Canadians seem to be taking a liking to grass courts.
Felix Auger-Aliassime rolled into the semifinals at the Boss Open in Germany on Friday, hours before Gabriel Diallo did the same at the Libema Open in the Netherlands.
Auger-Aliassime beat Germany's Justin Engel 7-6 (3), 6-3, firing 18 aces to Engel's seven while double-faulting just twice en route to victory. He also converted two of six break-point opportunities while being broken once.
The 24-year-old Montreal native will next face No. 2 American Taylor Fritz, who beat Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime's run at the Stuttgart tournament marks a strong start to the grass-court season after he picked up wins in just one of six clay-court events, including a first-round loss at the French Open.
Diallo, meanwhile, took out No. 3 seed Karen Khachanov 7-6 (6), 6-4 and will face France's Ugo Humbert in his semis.
Montreal's Diallo used 19 aces to secure the upset, breaking Khachanov twice while being broken only once himself.
He lost in the second round of the French Open in May.
Wimbledon, the next major of the season, begins June 30.
In the women's competition, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont. lost her bid to advance to the final four after dropping a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the quarterfinals.
Andreescu fell behind 5-0 in the first set and couldn't recover. The 2019 U.S. Open winner was looking to advance to her first semifinal of the season.
It was Ruse's second straight win over a Canadian after she beat Carson Branstine in the second round.
--with files from The Canadian Press
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