Montreal’s own Felix Auger-Aliassime kept his ATP Finals hopes alive with a thrilling first-round victory on Tuesday at the Paris Masters tennis tournament.
After dropping the first set, Auger-Aliassime showcased his resilience by defeating Argentine qualifier Francisco Comesana with a scoreline of 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3.
In other first-round matchups, Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo triumphed over Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands with a solid 6-3, 6-4 performance, while Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill, Ontario, faced a tough loss against Joao Fonseca, ending 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Notably, this marked the second consecutive defeat for Shapovalov at the hands of the Brazilian teen.
With this victory, Auger-Aliassime has narrowed the points gap to just 440 behind eighth-place Lorenzo Musetti in the ATP Race To Turin, where the top eight players earn a coveted spot in the year-end event in Italy.
The 25-year-old recently claimed an ATP 250 title in Belgium just nine days ago but may have missed an opportunity for more points after retiring from his quarterfinal match in Basel due to a sore back.
As the ninth seed in Paris, Auger-Aliassime is set to face off against France’s Alexandre Muller in his next match.
Diallo celebrated his first victory over Griekspoor, having faced the Dutch player two times earlier this year—both of which resulted in losses for Diallo at the French Open and the quarterfinals in a Mallorca grass tournament.
Standing tall at six-foot-eight, Diallo, currently ranked 42nd in the world, is ready to challenge sixth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia next.
In his encounter with Fonseca, Shapovalov delivered nine aces but also struggled with nine double faults. The pair had clashed the previous week in Basel, where Shapovalov had to withdraw from their quarterfinal match while trailing 3-6, 6-3, 4-1, despite not visibly appearing injured.
At just 19 years old, Fonseca went on to win the tournament, earning the distinction of being the third-youngest player to capture an ATP 500 title.
