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When Felix Auger-Aliassime’s left calf seized up on him late in the first set of an impressively competitive match against Jannik Sinner at the ATP Finals on Monday, you wouldn’t have predicted what happened just four days later.

The 25-year-old Canadian got through a tight, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory against world No. 3 Alexander Zverev Friday night. And with that – sweet as you please – he’s into the semis of the ATP Finals.

Auger-Aliassime will face newly crowned year-end world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday (2:30 p.m. EST, 11:30 a.m. PST).

The grin was ear to ear, for an eternity. He just couldn’t wipe it off his face for all the pasta in Torino.

He popped on the sponsor’s watch, popped on the still-unfamiliar wedding ring, and got to smiling some more.

“I always believed that I would win these types of matches. But you still have to come out and do it,” he said. “Today was high on emotions for both of us, and I played good when I needed to.”

Auger-Aliassime said the first set was great, and the start of the second set was good, too.

“I had many chances. But when you don’t make those chances then you have to deal with trying to focus back on the present – but still remembering those missed opportunities. And the match got a bit tense from that moment,” he said. “But luckily I think it was tense for both of us.”

The statistics were nearly identical for both at the end of the day. But Zverev definitely wasn’t having his best day. Perhaps because of the nerves.

Through the first set and the early part of the second, he was waving his arms and barking at his camp and looking exasperated and discouraged.

The biggest problem for him was his backhand. It let him down, and it’s the bedrock foundation on which he bases his game. When it faltered, so did the rest of his game in the key moments.

Afterwards, in his press conference, Auger-Aliassime said it was the “right intentions” that got him through. “Not perfect tennis, but it was enough”.

He also said after the match that it was going to have to be a whole lot better against Alcaraz.

Take a chance, get rewarded

Auger-Alliassime arrived in Turin not even knowing if he would compete. He was, at worst, an alternate.

But if Lorenzo Musetti defeated Novak Djokovic in the final of the Athens ATP event, Musetti would advance and Auger-Aliassime would sit on the sidelines.

The Canadian, whose knee (among other issues) acted up through the Basel and Paris Masters events, made the decision not to play a concurrent tournament in Metz to try to seal his Turin participation.

After Paris final, FAA will leave Turin up to fate

He judged, probably wisely, that there was no guarantee he’d win it. And even if he did, he’d be in no shape to give his best in Turin. He also rolled the dice that Musetti wasn’t going to win Athens, which the Italian had to do to guarantee he would qualify.

So it was a gamble, but one with pretty good odds.

In the end, both got in, after Novak Djokovic withdrew.

And Auger-Aliassime found himself playing his opening match against home-country hero and defending champion Jannik Sinner.

A tough, tough start

The genuine joy Auger-Aliassime exhibited Friday was a long, long way from Monday, when he was right in there with Sinner and, suddenly, at 5-6 in the first set, felt his calf go.

He didn’t get it treated right away. But eventually he had the physio come out to try to rub it out, and again once more during a changeover. But there wasn’t much he could do. And after a terrific hour against Sinner in which he executed a well-crafted game that involved all-out aggression, his body let him down.

The calf was on his landing leg. And there was plenty of wincing.

It certainly didn’t seem as though it was something he could quickly come back from, with two more matches remaining in the round-robin portion of the event.

After the match, Auger-Aliassime said he didn’t think it was a huge thing. Which is something most players will say. But in the end, it wasn’t.

Patience and power vs. Shelton

Two days later, he took the court against Ben Shelton, with both players at 0-1 and trying to not get eliminated.

This time, Auger-Aliassime came out with a different plan.

A different opponent – a less consistent but sometimes more dangerous one – who was a lefty on top of that. And that plan – patience when necessary, wide serves, and more patience to allow Shelton to beat himself in key moments – worked. Eventually. It still went 7-5 in the third set

His movement looked pretty solid. And so he had hope.

One match for the semis

It certainly helped Auger-Aliassime that the last time he met Zverev, who had a 6-3 lead in their head-to-head, he beat him. And he beat him on a big occasion: the third round of the US Open.

And for the third match in a row, he had a different game plan.

Auger-Aliassime didn’t quite get the balance of aggression and patience right. But he got it right a lot of the time. And when he found himself in trouble, his serve pulled him through.

His judicious use of the down-the-line backhand slice, to Zverev’s weaker forehand, paid dividends. He could perhaps use it more. But using it a little was already an upgrade over not using it at all.

But that Zverev backhand…

The errors from that side were mostly on what are normally shots Zverev makes in his sleep. And some putaway volleys that, even given the circumstances, routine for almost any player. Zverev said he had trouble with the lights when the ball got up higher.

“I feel like over the last month I was still building up quite nicely. I feel like my level has been improving. oday it was nowhere near what it was the last month,” Zverev said. “Right now it’s not only a disappointment with the loss, it’s a disappointment with how I performed with my capabilities. The last couple days, I definitely played better.”

And while he gave Auger-Aliassime credit for “having evolved as a tennis player” since their US Open clash, he was also tough on himself.

“I also have to be honest with myself. This was the worst match that I played in the last month – taking out the Sinner match in Paris, because I wasn’t fit,” he said. “Yeah, from my end, this was not a good tennis match.”

Next up – Alcaraz

If it was true, back in the “Big 3” days, that you had to get through at least two of them, sometimes even three, to try to win a major, it’s also true at the moment that you’ll have to get through both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner if you want to hold the biggest trophies.

“You have to have perspective and think not many players are beating them. But for me it’s about spending time on court with them, seeing what works, and then hopefully getting closer and closer,” Auger-Aliassime said. “One day you have to start beating them more than once if you want to be, like a ‘rival’. If you win once in a blue moon, you’re not really a rival of theirs.”

Auger-Aliassime beat Alcaraz the first three times they played, the first on a retirement in the US Open quarterfinals in 2021. He beat him twice withim a month in 2022, first at Davis Cup and then on the quick indoor court in Basel. That was when Auger-Aliassime was playing his best tennis – until the last few months, arguably.

But Alcaraz has grown by leaps and bounds since then. And in their last four meetings – at Indian Wells in 2023 and 2024 and then at Roland Garros and the Olympics last year, Auger-Aliassime hasn’t won a set. And only twice did he get more than three games in any one set.

So it’s a challenge. But in these last dregs of the season, when everyone is a little broken, jaded and tired, he’s energized.

“I don’t know how guys don’t enjoy it, to be honest. I think they lost perspective completely. I get that you can get tired. I’m tired, too. I do trips around and I go see different circumstances around the world. I mean, we’re just lucky and blessed,” he said.

“In my humble opinion, every day I wake up and I enjoy. I enjoy that I’m here. Even if I lose matches, it’s okay, I’m pissed for a day. … I don’t know. If you want to play less tournaments, stay home. Nobody’s forcing you to be here.”

(Illustrations, with the exception of Alcaraz/Sinner and Auger-Aliassime/Alcaraz, are screenshots from TennisTV).

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