Both 0-1 after their first matches—Auger-Aliassime losing to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Shelton falling to No. 3 Alexander Zverev—Shelton looked to have the match when he earned a break point in the ninth game of the second set. But Auger-Aliassime kept battling and shook off losing a 6-4 advantage in the subsequent tiebreaker, hitting through nerves to force a deciding set.
“I have a lot of respect for Ben and everything he does, so it was a pleasure to share the court with him and to play tennis that way, really being involved and playing with high emotions every point.”
The third set went with serve until the final game, where Shelton saved two match points in hopes off forcing a final Sudden Death, but Auger-Aliassime would not be denied and outrallied the fiery American one last time to get on the board in round-robin play and put himself in position to reach a first semifinal.
Auger-Aliassime has been on fire in the last three months, reaching a second Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open—his best major result since 2021—and storming into the Rolex Paris Masters final to clinch a late berth to the ATP Finals.
