At age 25, Félix Auger-Aliassime has secured a share of Canadian tennis history.
On Sunday, the Montrealer defeated Jiri Lehecka in three sets to win the eighth ATP Tour singles title of his career. That ties him with Milos Raonic for the most tour-level singles titles by a Canadian.
While he had a chance to secure the trophy in two sets, holding a pair of match points in the second-set tiebreak, the Canadian rode some impressive serving to victory in the decider. He held his nerve in the final set, never dropping serve in a 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-2 win.
His victory was the second of the day by a Canadian, following Leylah Annie Fernandez’s title in Osaka, Japan.
Both men served lights out in the final. Auger-Aliassime was practically perfect, putting 83 per cent of his first serves in play and winning 79 per cent of those points. He even won 71 per cent of his second serve points and saved all three break points he faced. The Canadian blasted 17 aces in the win.
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The servers dominated the opening set. Only one of the 12 service games featured break points, when Lehecka had three chances to break the Canadian at 2-2, his only break point opportunities in the match. However, Auger-Aliassime was up to the task, fighting back from 15-40 and 40-AD down to hold. Apart from that fifth game, the returner never won more than two points in a game in the first set.
In the tiebreak, Auger-Aliassime came out flying, scoring both of Lehecka’s first two service points as he raced out to a 5-0 lead. The Canadian did not drop a point on serve in the breaker as he comfortably secured the opening set.
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After having no looks on the Lehecka serve in the first, Auger-Aliassime had a few chances in the second set. He led 15-40 in the third game and had another break point in the seventh, but the Czech was able to save all three to keep the match without a break.
A deep forehand return on the opening point of the tiebreak by Auger-Aliassime drew an error for the immediate minibreak. The Canadian rode that edge to double match point at 6-4, with the first match point being on his own serve. However, he fired a forehand long and then Czech delivered back-to-back big serves to go from match point down to set point up. Auger-Aliassime then missed a forehand to send the match to a third set.
Undeterred after letting the match points slip away, Auger-Aliassime upped the intensity in the third set. At 2-1, he had another couple of looks on Lehecka’s serve and, after the Czech saved the first break point with a spectacular defensive forehand, the Canadian laced a backhand passing shot into Lehecka’s feet on the second to sure the first break of the day.
With the way he was serving, the result seemed inevitable. Auger-Aliassime never gave Lehecka a chance to reclaim the break and continued applying pressure on return. When the Czech served to stay in it at 2-5, deuce, the Montrealer ripped back-to-back huge forehand returns to secure the victory.
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The victory is a big boost to Auger-Aliassime's bid to qualify for the ATP Finals. He currently sits ninth in the Race to Turin, one spot out of qualification, but has cut his deficit behind eighth-place Lorenzo Musetti to 340 points with the Brussels title.
Auger-Aliassime heads now to Basel, an event he has won twice, looking to gain further ground on Musetti. He will open his campaign at the ATP 500 event against fellow Montrealer Gabriel Diallo.
Feature Photo : @BNPPFEUOpen
