Playing in the fifth ATP final of his career and second in as many weeks, Félix Auger-Aliassime was on the hunt for his first winner’s trophy.

After ejecting Gilles Simon and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the earlier rounds, the seventh seed ran into World No.6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the ultimate showdown.

Despite his 2-1 record against the titan, Auger-Aliassime fell in two sets (6-3, 6-4).

Broken in the fourth game of the first set, the Quebecer wasn’t able to gain a lead as he had in his previous matches. Even with break points in hand as Tsitsipas served for the set, Auger-Aliassime couldn’t seize the opportunities.

The second set got off to a thrilling start with three consecutive breaks after the fifth game, but Tsitsipas managed to consolidate the point with brilliant down-the-line winners and rallies and overpowered his rather nervous rival. At 5-4 on championship point, after nearly 90 minutes of play, the Greek hero raised his fifth winner’s trophy.

Vasek Pospisil crowned in doubles

Earlier in the day, Vasek Pospisil and Nicolas Mahut of France triumphed in the doubles event. They defeated second seeds Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia.

Pospisil and Mahut, who didn’t drop a single set all week, took only 72 minutes to secure the win (6-3, 6-4).

The title is Pospisil’s first since his 2016 doubles conquest in Rotterdam with none other than Mahut and caps off a fantastic month for the Canadian, who competed in the final in Montpellier just a few weeks ago.

Feature photo: Open 13 Provence

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