By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Holger Rune, Sunday's combatants in the Basel final, have continued their fine form into Paris.
For the Canadian, it means a trip to the ATP Finals, where he will make his debut in 10 days time.
Auger-Aliassime saw his remarkable run of consecutive service holds come to an end on Wednesday in Paris, the Canadian finally broken in the second set after notching 93 consecutive holds across Antwerp, Basel and Paris, but the 22-year-old came through when it comes to the most important stat by locking up his 14th consecutive win, 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) over Sweden’s Mikael Ymer.
Auger-Aliassime had to battle from the brink to get it done – he faced two break points while serving at 1-4 in the second set and came through with flying colors.
"Somehow I found a second wind after saving those break points at 4-1,” said Auger-Aliassime after his triumph. “I played better and better, coming through the court much better, serving better. It was pretty epic. Three hours and 30 minutes on the court, quality rallies. He was making me work all the time. Definitely a win to remember.”
The match ensures the Canadian's qualification in Turin, thanks to Gilles Simon's victory over Taylor Fritz on Wednesday evening in Paris today.
The Canadian improves to 54-23 on the season with his win.
Rune ends Hurkacz’s hopes
A day after saving three match points to defeat Stan Wawrinka, an energized Holger Rune soared past Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, ending the World No.10’s longshot hopes of qualifying for Turin with a 7-5, 6-1 victory. Rune, who is making his top-20 debut this week, won eight of the last nine games to end the Pole’s season on a sour note.
The Danish teen is into the round of 16 at a Masters 1000 for the first time and will race seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev next.