Photo : Mathieu Belanger/Tennis Canada
It’s going to be an exciting championship Sunday for Canadian tennis fans tomorrow as Félix Auger-Aliassime, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Gabriel Diallo will all play for titles.
At the UniCredit Firenze Open in Florence, Italy, an ATP 250 event, Auger-Aliassime advanced to his third singles final of the season and eleventh of his career thanks to a dominant 6-2, 6-3 victory over world no. 28 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.
The 22-year-old Canadian, seeded first in the draw, overwhelmed his opponent, who struggled physically throughout the match, with his powerful groundstrokes and accurate serve. In fact, he only lost a total of 12 points on serve and saved both break points he faced. The triumph moves him one step closer to qualifying for the prestigious ATP Finals in Turin next month.
“I played very complete tennis, a very solid performance with the things I can control so I’m really happy and looking forward to tomorrow,” said Auger-Aliassime during his on-court interview after the match.
RELATED: Auger-Aliassime Powers Past Nakashima into Florence Semis
In Sunday’s final, he will take on American J.J. Wolf, ranked no. 75 in the world, who defeated Mikael Ymer in Saturday’s first semifinal to reach his first career ATP final. It will be the first meeting between the two players at the pro level.
Auger-Aliassime will be looking to win his second title of 2022 after claiming top honours in Rotterdam in February to finally capture his maiden ATP crown after eight unsuccessful attempts. The following week, he finished as the runner-up in Marseille.
Dabrowski’s Win Streak Continues
Meanwhile, at the San Diego Open in California, a WTA 500 event, Dabrowski will play for her third consecutive doubles title tomorrow after she and her partner, Giuliana Olmos of Mexico, topped Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals.
The victory was Dabrowski’s 11th straight win as her impressive undefeated record since the U.S. Open continues. During that stretch, she has only lost one set in 11 matches in addition to capturing a pair of titles in Chennai and Tokyo. Earlier this week, she and Olmos qualified for the WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas which is set to begin at the end of the month. This will be their first appearance as a team at the year-end tournament and Dabrowski’s fourth overall.
Diallo Goes For Challenger Title No. 2
On the ATP Challenger Tour, Gabriel Diallo’s breakthrough season continues. He will play for his second title of the year on Sunday after beating American qualifier Alafia Ayeni 6-3, 6-1 in the final four at the Taube-Haase Pro Tennis Championship in Fairfield, California. He will face another American in Michael Mmoh in the championship match.
RELATED: Diallo caps off magical Granby run with first Challenger title
The 21-year-old, who will crack the top 300 on the ATP rankings for the first time on Monday, put together a Cinderella run on home soil this summer to win his maiden ATP Challenger title at the Granby National Bank Challenger and he’s been playing at a high level ever since.
In other ATP Challenger news, Vasek Pospisil was unable to make it four Canadian finalists in the same week as he fell 6-4, 7-6(2) to Germany’s Max Hans Rehberg in the Ismaning semifinals.
