Auger-Aliassime continues tiebreak heat and defeats Muller at Paris Masters
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime narrowly defeated France’s Alexandre Muller 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(4) at the Montreal Masters on Wednesday to advance to the top 16 of the Paris Masters.
Auger-Aliassime won the match with a strong serve. He hit 21 aces and averaged a first serve speed of 206 kilometers per hour.
Ninth seed Auger-Aliassime needs to make strides in Paris while hoping Lorenzo Musetti doesn’t score too many points at the ATP 1000 event. Musetti is one spot ahead of Auger-Aliassime in eighth place in the ATP Battle of Turin standings. The top eight qualify for the end-of-season event in Italy.
Musetti received a first-round bye and will face fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego later on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old Canadian won the ATP 250 event in Belgium nine days ago but may have left some points on the table when he withdrew from last week’s quarter-finals in Basel with back soreness.
Muller took the lead in breaking serve at the critical moment, forcing a set point error and winning the first game 7-5.
After breaking Auger-Aliassime in the second game, the Frenchman rode the momentum and led 2-0 early in the second set. But the Canadian responded with a break in the next game and held serve for the rest of the game to force a tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime trailed 5-4 in the tiebreak, but then served consecutive aces and then got set point on the return.
Both sides held serve in the third set, and Auger-Aliassime reversed the scores of 0-3 and 3-4 in the tie-break to win the game.
Auger-Aliassime will face Daniel Altmire in the round of 16. His career record against the German is 1-2.
Auger-Aliassime has played in 11 tiebreaks in the past nine games. While it can be nerve-wracking, he often comes out on top in moments of triumph. According to the ATP Tour website, Auger-Aliassime is tied for fourth on the tour with a tiebreak winning percentage of 69.2.
Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo will face sixth-seeded Alex De Minaur of Australia in Wednesday’s second-round match.
