For the second day in a row, Félix Auger-Aliassime managed to rally from a set down to survive a scare at the Paris Rolex Masters. For Gabriel Diallo, his ATP Masters 1000 season came to an end after a hard-fought three setter.
Auger-Aliassime kept his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals alive. On Wednesday, he overcame a stern test from local Alexandre Muller in three sets to reach the third round.
The Frenchman threw everything at the world No. 10 in the three-hour affair and was two points away from victory in the second set tiebreak. But just like his first-round match, Auger-Aliassime dug in when his back was against the wall, battling back for a 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win.
Auger-Aliassime needs to reach at least the semifinals to have a chance of qualifying for the year-end championships.
In the end, Muller actually won five more points than the Canadian. Auger-Aliassime was the aggressor for most of the match, more than doubling his opponent’s winner count, 50 to 20, but also committing 55 unforced errors. Domination at the net was a key factor for the Canuck. While the Frenchman won 62 per cent of baseline points, Auger-Aliassime was clutch at the net, winning 23 of 31 points when coming in.
The serve was not clicking early on for Auger-Aliassime and he found himself under pressure in his opening service game. Some fearless hitting from Muller earned the Frenchman a pair of break points but Auger-Aliassime saved both with some impressive shot-making of his own. The Canadian then had a break point chance in the following game but netted his return.
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After the early opportunities, both men settled in and began holding without much fuss. It was not until Auger-Aliassime was serving to stay in the set at 5-6 that he found himself in trouble again. A trio of misses by the Canadian gave Muller a double-break point chance to close out the set and on the second, Auger-Aliassime netted a backhand to drop the opener.
Muller carried the momentum into the second set, breaking the Montrealer to claim a quick 2-0 lead. However, Auger-Aliassime responded by securing his first break of the day in the following game to get right back on serve.
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Auger-Aliassime had one look to break midway through the set at 3-all, but Muller erased it with a big serve. Otherwise, the two men clipped along right through to the tiebreak. The pair exchanged a few minibreaks but each time one man struck, the other responded immediately and neither could pull away. Auger-Aliassime made the final move at the perfect time, setting up a set point with an ace and then blasting a crosscourt backhand return that was too much for Muller to handle, sending the match to a deciding set.
While Auger-Aliassime faced a bit more pressure on serve in the third, he also had the only chance to break. It came at a critical moment as Muller served to send the match to a tiebreak. The Frenchman double-faulted to gift the world No. 10 a match point but responded with an ace to escape.
Muller then raced out to a quick 3-0 lead in the tiebreak but Auger-Aliassime fought back. After taking both of his service points to close to 2-3, he teed off on a forehand return for a clean down-the-line winner to draw level. The Frenchman won the next point on his own serve but that was the last one he would win in the match. Auger-Aliassime won both his service points to go up 5-4 and then fired a forehand winner to create two more match points. The Canadian ripped another forehand winner to secure the win.
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The draw is opening up for the Canadian in Paris. Upsets of Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday mean that Auger-Aliassime is the highest-ranked player left in his quarter of the draw. In round three, he will meet Daniel Altmaier. The German leads their head-to-head 2-1, although the Montrealer won their most recent meeting in Hamburg on clay in straight sets back in May.
Diallo Falls Short of Career-Best Win Against de Minaur
Diallo’s efforts left him just shy of his first Top 10 win, falling to world No. 6 Alex de Minaur 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-3 in the Rolex Paris Masters second round on Wednesday.
The world No. 42 managed to rally from 2-5 down in the opening set to force a tiebreak, but was unable to erase a similar deficit in the third, trailing 2-4 before de Minaur eventually put the over two-and-a-half-hour match to bed on serve.
The Canadian had more than double the number of winners and aces compared to the Australian. Unfortunately for Diallo, the same was true for his unforced errors as he finished with 66 compared to de Minaur’s 32.
Diallo’s serve was too hot for de Minaur to handle early on. The Aussie failed to return seven of the Montrealer’s first ten deliveries, but de Minaur soon got a hold of his big serve. From 2-2, the No. 6 seed held four break points over Diallo’s next two service games and secured back-to-back breaks to serve for the opener at 5-2.
However, the Canadian No. 3 wasn’t going to hand off the set that easily. Diallo broke back after holding a love-40 advantage, then the pressure was once again on de Minaur to serve out the first.
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Back-to-back strong return games put Diallo in another favourable spot at 4-5, love-40, that the Canuck capitalized on, putting away an overhead to complete the comeback.
Diallo carried that momentum into the eventual tiebreak as he got off to a commanding 5-0 lead, but the Aussie executed a comeback of his own to level at 5-5. The Canadian had three opportunities to close out the set on serve, his final one coming at 8-7 where Diallo’s three-straight unforced errors handed a relieved de Minaur a one-set lead.
The Montrealer fended off some early break points in his opening service game of the second as he looked for his chance to strike on return. At 3-3, 15-30, Diallo fired a winner down the line – one of his 36 in the match – to hold double break point, converting on the second try.
After calling a medical timeout, the Canadian came out with a comfortable hold and was one-game away from forcing a decisive set. Diallo capped off some strong delivery by serving out the set at 5-4 as the match was headed past midnight and into a decider.
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De Minaur was the first to pull away, breaking the Canadian in the sixth game to inch closer to the round of 16. At 2-4, an undeterred Diallo broke back but let his opportunity to go back level slip after losing serve for the second-straight time.
At 5-3, 40-15, the Canuck’s forehand found the net, putting an end to his comeback bid in the third.
Diallo’s 2025 ATP Masters 1000 campaign ended with a career-best quarter-final result in Madrid, as well as a last 16 finish in Shanghai. The 24-year-old will remain in France for the Moselle Open in Metz, starting in November.
Feature Photo : Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
