Canada's Auger-Aliassime falls to Coric in quarter-finals at Cincinnati Open

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime lost 6-4, 6-4, to Croatia's Borna Coric Friday in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open Masters-level tennis tournament in Mason, Ohio.

The 22-year-old Montreal native fired 12 aces to Coric's eight but committed five double faults in the loss.

Coric broke Auger-Aliassime on two out of nine opportunities, while the Canadian recorded zero break points.

Auger-Aliassime, the seventh seed in the tournament, defeated Australia's Alex de Minaur in the second round, then Italy's Jannik Sinner on Thursday in the following round.

Coric, ranked No. 152 in the world as he works his way back from shoulder surgery, won a stunning 31 of 32 first-service points (96.9 per cent) in securing the upset over the Canadian.

The 25-year-old is the tournament's second-lowest-ranked semifinalist since the start of the ATP rankings in August 1973.

WATCH l Auger-Aliassime ousted by Coric:

Auger-Aliassime falls to Coric in Cincinnati quarter-finals

2 years ago

Duration 2:43

Borna Coric of Croatia reaches his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal since 2018 by defeating Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Western & Southern Open.

Coric will face No. 11 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain in the semifinals. Norrie edged fourth-ranked Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-4 later on Friday in a match that lasted three hours, three minutes.

In men's doubles quarter-final action, Richmond Hill, Ont., native Denis Shapovalov and Russian partner Karen Khachanov fell 1-6, 6-7 (6) to Great Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram.

Shapovalov was eliminated from singles play after a straight-set loss to world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Thursday.

Medvedev, Tsitsipas also advance

Medvedev moved into the semifinals as he prepares for his U.S. Open title defence, beating 11th-seeded Taylor Fritz 7-6 (1), 6-3.

Medvedev, banned from Wimbledon for his country's invasion of Ukraine, won the 2019 Western & Southern Open. He looked sharper Friday than he did last week in Montreal in a round-of-32 loss to Nick Kyrgios.

Medvedev will face No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the semifinals. Tsitsipas outlasted American John Isner 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3 in their quarter-final match.

Keys charges into women's semifinals

Unseeded American Madison Keys, also a 2019 winner in the event, advanced to the women's semifinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Keys has not dropped a set in four matches, including her upset of top-ranked Iga Swiatek in the round of 16.

Keys will face two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who cruised past Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-2, 6-3. The unseeded Kvitova, ranked 28th, will be Keys' third consecutive opponent with a Grand Slam title to her credit.

Sixth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka beat Shuai Zhang 6-4, 7-6 (1). Sabalenka willqualifier Caroline Garcia, who upset seventh-seeded Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 7-5. Garcia celebrated by running around the court with her arms stretched out like airplane wings.

Going through qualifying makes reaching the semifinals extra special for Garcia.

The eighth-ranked Pegula played with her left thigh wrapped one day after eliminating defending U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.