Back to the Tennis Newsfeed

Miami Open: Roger Federer and John Isner Fend Off Phenoms to Reach Final

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — By reaching the semifinals of the Miami Open, the Canadian youngsters Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov achieved something that Roger Federer and John Isner never managed.

Federer, for all his obvious and precocious tennis talents, never made it to this late a stage of a Masters 1000 event in singles as a teenager. Isner was still a student-athlete at the University of Georgia in his late teens.

But neither Auger-Aliassime, 18, nor Shapovalov, 19, was able to make the next leap on Friday as Isner and Federer took turns holding back youth on the temporary center court at Hard Rock Stadium.