Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece plays a shot against Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in their final men's singles match of the ABN AMRO world tennis tournament at Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Republished February 13, 2022 - 10:23 AM
Original Publication Date February 13, 2022 - 8:46 AM
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime won his first career title Sunday upsetting top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in the Rotterdam final.
Victory came as a relief for the 21-year-old Canadian after losing his previous eight finals dating back to 2019.
“It’s been not the smoothest road since my first final three years ago,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview following the win.
"It’s been an amazing day for me to get this first title and especially here, (where) I’ve done my first ATP main draw a couple years ago so I guess it’s right that I get my first ATP title here.
"Thank you for making it a special week that I will remember for the rest of my life. It’s the happiest day of my career and hopefully this is the first of many to come.”
The third-seeded Auger-Aliassime hit seven aces and won 93 per cent of his first serve points. He did not face a single break point across the one hour, 18 minute match.
Tsitsipas was unusually poor on his serve with four double-faults and only 31 of 55 first serves landing in. His second serve let him down, too, and he won only 33 per cent of points on it.
It was Auger-Aliassime's third win in eight matches against Tsitsipas.
The 23-year-old Tsitsipas dropped to 7-11 in finals.
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