Félix Auger-Aliassime will have the opportunity to get his hands on a second consecutive title on the ATP circuit, he who reached the final of the Marseille tournament. The Quebecer defeated the tough Roman Safiullin in the semi-finals on Saturday to continue his winning streak.
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The Russian, who came from qualifying and felled Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round, did not let it go, but he ultimately lost his flag after 2 h 27 min in two sets of 7-6 (4) and 7-6 (5 ) against the event’s third seed.
Another Russian, Andrey Rublev, will be the last bastion between Auger-Aliassime and the champion’s trophy in Marseille. Last week in Rotterdam, the 21-year-old tennis player defeated Rublev in the semi-finals to eventually claim his first singles title.
The Quebecer started his day in a good way by breaking Safiullin from the outset. He stole his opponent’s serve once again in this first set, but he himself was pushed to his limits. Very aggressive in return, the Russian offered eight break points and converted two.
As he has often done lately, Auger-Aliassime got away with winning the tiebreaker.
Far from being tired despite all the tennis he has played in recent weeks, “FAA” continued to serve powerfully in the second set. He won no less than 92% of the exchanges of this round when he put his first ball in play. It was once again in the tiebreaker that Auger-Aliassime won.
Earlier in the day, Rublev struggled to contend with home favorite Benjamin Bonzi in his semi-final. The Frenchman, modest 69th player in the world, snatched a set from the second seed, but lost 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3.