In a thrilling battle for every precious point toward the year-end ATP Finals, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime battled his way into the Round of 16 at the Paris Masters on Wednesday. He secured a nail-biting victory over France’s Alexandre Muller with match scores of 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).
Auger-Aliassime showcased his formidable serve throughout the match, delivering an impressive 21 aces and maintaining a blistering average first-serve speed of 206 kilometers per hour.
As the ninth seed, Auger-Aliassime seeks a strong performance at this ATP 1000 tournament to gain ground on Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who sits eighth in the ATP Race To Turin standings, just ahead of Auger-Aliassime. The elite top eight will qualify for the season-concluding event in Italy.
Luck smiled upon Auger-Aliassime when Musetti faced an unexpected upset, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego later that day.
The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime recently clinched an ATP 250 title in Belgium just nine days prior, but he may have missed out on vital points last week due to a retirement during the quarterfinals in Basel caused by a sore back.
Muller struck first, breaking Auger-Aliassime at a pivotal moment, forcing an error on set point to clinch the opening frame 7-5.
Fueled by his initial success, Muller surged to a 2-0 lead in the second set after breaking Auger-Aliassime in the second game. However, the Canadian swiftly responded by breaking back in the next game and held his serve to push the match into a tiebreak.
Trailing 4-5 in the tiebreak, Auger-Aliassime unleashed a flurry of back-to-back aces, ultimately seizing set point on his return.
In the decisive third set, both players maintained their serves, but Auger-Aliassime’s tenacity shone through as he fought back from deficits of 3-0 and 4-3 in the tiebreak to clinch his well-deserved victory.
Next, Auger-Aliassime will face Daniel Altmier in the Round of 16, holding a 1-2 career record against the German.
In an exciting trend, Auger-Aliassime has participated in 11 tiebreaks over his last nine matches. While this may create some tense moments, he frequently emerges victorious. According to the ATP Tour, he ranks fourth on tour with an impressive tiebreak winning percentage of 69.2.
In other second-round matchups on Wednesday, Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo faced off against sixth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur, ultimately falling 7-6 (8), 4-6, 6-3.
Diallo demonstrated remarkable resilience, coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the first set and had opportunities to take the tiebreak. However, de Minaur saved two set points and secured a pivotal 1-0 lead.
