Felix Auger-Aliassime returns the ball to Daniel Altmaier of Germany during their third round match at the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Paris La Defense Arena, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Republished October 30, 2025 - 10:13 AM
Original Publication Date October 30, 2025 - 8:11 AM
PARIS — Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the Paris Masters quarterfinals Thursday with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier.
The ninth-seeded Montreal native recovered after dropping the opening set, winning 87 per cent of his first-serve points and converting three of 10 break chances.
Auger-Aliassime finished with seven aces and three double faults in the two-hour, 11-minute match.
The win follows his marathon 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) victory over France’s Alexandre Muller on Wednesday, when he relied on 21 aces to advance.
"Three sets all week. It’s been a struggle all week," Auger-Aliassime said. "Just fighting back, I feel like every day. That’s why I came in today knowing it might be tough again.
"Just stay calm, stay patient, and try to find solutions. I tried to dig deep. I know I have solutions within myself, but it’s just about making the right choices and executing right."
Auger-Aliassime didn't panic after a sluggish first set and found a way to get to Altmaier's serve while evening his career record against the German to 2-2.
“I started serving better and better as the match went on. I was struggling with his change of pace on the serve," he said. "It was just a bit of a mix-up in my mind, where to return. I found a way to pressure him and broke him three times in the rest of the match.”
Auger-Aliassime, currently ninth in the ATP Race to Turin standings, remains in the hunt for one of the final spots at the season-ending ATP Finals. The top eight players on the men's tour qualify for the event.
Thursday's win gave Auger-Aliassime 3,395 points in the Race to Turin standings, 290 behind eighth-place Lorenzo Musetti, who has already been eliminated from the Paris Masters.
A win over Monaco wild card Valentin Vacherot in the quarterfinals would put Auger-Aliassime just 90 points behind Musetti, while a tournament victory would put him 510 points ahead.
After Paris, there is little opportunity to make up ground in the race, with only a pair of ATP 250 events running concurrently in Athens and Metz, France, before the ATP Finals start Nov. 9.
World No. 40 Vacherot, who has risen 227 spots in the ATP rankings over the past four months, continued his excellent form with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the Round of 16.
Vacherot is on a 10-match winning streak at the Masters level and won the last ATP 1000 tournament in Shanghai, beating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech of France in the final.
Norrie entered the quarterfinal coming off an upset of world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025.
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