Felix Auger-Aliassime

Defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal advanced to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp on Thursday.

Auger-Aliassime broke his opponent four times on six chances and won 56 per cent of total points. 

He also played a clean game with just three unforced errors, while van de Zandschulp made seven.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded sixth in Basel, will next face Alexander Shevchenko. 

The Russian qualifier advanced with a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) win over third seed Taylor Fritz of the United States.

Auger-Aliassime won last year’s Swiss Indoors to cap a run of three straight tournament victories.

This year, he is simply looking for a strong end to a tough season. Thursday’s win improved his season record to 19-18.