Sarah Reed/Getty Images
Tommy Paul saves all four break points against him to beat Aussie Rinky Hijikata.
By ATP Staff
After knocking out home hope Rinky Hijikata on Thursday at the Adelaide International, Tommy Paul has moved within one victory of a debut inside the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Following his 6-3, 6-4 quarter-final result against the Aussie, Paul will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semis with that Top 10 place on the line.
"That's a big match," Paul said when told of the stakes of his Friday outing. He has already leapfrogged Stefanos Tsitsipas this week for the No. 11 spot in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, and could surpass Grigor Dimitrov for No. 10 by reaching the final.
In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the 23-year-old Hijikata, the American saved all four break points against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats. On Wednesday, he saved 10 of 11 break points in a three-set win against Manuel Guinard — his opening match of the 2025 ATP Tour season.
"The more time on court the better for me," said Paul, who enjoyed some fishing this offseason alongside his training programme. "Yesterday wasn't the prettiest match but I came out today and picked up my level a tonne."
Through to his 15th tour-level semi-final (7-7), Paul is seeking his fifth ATP Tour crown. His most recent title came in Stockholm last October.
Marching into the semi-finals 🥁
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 9, 2025
Top seed @TommyPaul1 gets past Hijikata 6-3 6-4 to book his spot in the Adelaide final four.@AdelaideTennis | #AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/5QScXrASx7
Auger-Aliassime booked his meeting with Paul courtesy of a 7-6(3), 6-3 win against Marcos Giron, saving nine break points in the effort. The Canadian is through to his 29th tour-level semi-final and his first since the Paris Olympics last August, a result that has lifted him four places this week to No. 25 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
After getting engaged during the offseason, the 24-year-old began his 2025 campaign by beating Taylor Fritz at the United Cup. Now he will bid to upset another American in Adelaide in his second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Paul.
"We played once in the past. It was a tough match, I had to save a lot of match points," Auger-Aliassime said, recalling his six match-point saves in an epic 2023 Indian Wells matchup. "But it's been a while. It's nice to compete with these guys again that are Top 10 or close, to see where my game matches. I'm confident in my game, I've played good tennis since the start of the year. Two wins in a row here, so it's nice to be through and hopefully it'll be a good one tomorrow."
In other action, Miomir Kecmanovic advanced to his first ATP Tour semi-final since Stockholm in October 2023. The Serbian defeated Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 6-3 in just 65 minutes.
Kecmanovic hit 12 aces and saved the one break point he faced. The 25-year-old is yet to drop a set this week and is chasing his second ATP Tour title. Kecmanovic will next play Sebastian Korda after Thanasi Kokkinakis was forced to withdraw ahead of their quarter-final clash due to a right shoulder injury.
Kokkinakis had won consecutive three-set matches against Yoshihito Nishioka and Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier this week. Korda held championship point in the Adelaide final against Novak Djokovic in 2023 but fell 6-7(8), 7-6(3), 6-4. The second-seeded American also advanced to the semis at the ATP 250 event last year.
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