Auger-Aliassime Tops Bublik in Paris, Reaches Second Masters Final

Felix Auger-Aliassime contined his red-hot play on indoor hard courts, defeating Alexander Bublik 7-6(3), 6-4, to reach his first Paris Masters final.

With the win, the 25-year-old Canadian also moved into 8th place ahead of Lorenzo Musetti in the Race to Turin standings.

“I have deep self confidence in my game. I know what I can do against the best players in the world, but you still have to go and execute. Today I did really well and I’m happy with the result,” the Canadian said on court after the win.

It was a tale of two matches, with zero breaks recorded in a crisp opening set, and five breaks – three for Auger-Aliassime – in the second set.

One of the breaks left Bublik out of sorts and he demolished his racquet at the baseline. After the change of ends, Auger-Aliassime swept up the debris and the pair shared a funny moment with the Kazakhstani giving Auger-Aliassime the heart emoji hand signal as he smiled.

Bublik led 4-2 but the Canadian reeled off the final four games to close out a satisfying victory.

The 10th-ranked Canadian is into his 20th career final overall.

Auger-Aliassime cracked 31 winners to 15 for Bublik, including 17 off the forehand wing. He won 85 percent of first-serve points and outaced Bublik 12 to 5.

Auger-Aliassime will face either Jannik Sinner or Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final in the French capital.