A very unusual way to get to the final! Auger-Aliassime has only played one match in a week and has a historic opportunity in Madrid

At the age of twenty-three, he already has five titles on the ATP circuit. In Madrid, however, Canadian Auger-Aliassime can win a triumph of a completely different value. The way he reached the final of the Masters tournament was very specific.

Auger-Aliassime and his titles

All of his triumphs to date are linked to the hard surface at indoor tournaments. Felix Auger-Aliassime has enjoyed tournament titles in Rotterdam, Florence, Antwerp and Basel.

He repeated his 2022 success at the latter tournament last year. The twenty-three-year-old Canadian accomplished the feat in October.

In the final of this tennis event in Switzerland, he defeated the then Pole Hurkacz. He defeated him in two sets, both of which he won in a tiebreak.

Now he has the opportunity to win the biggest title of his career. In the final of the Masters Madrid, he can not only get his first triumph at this level. In fact, none of his compatriots have ever won at such a high quality event.

An economical journey through the tournament

Ironically, Auger-Aliassime worked his hardest in his first round match. He defeated the Japanese Nishioka after sets 4:6, 6:1, 6:4. He has not needed three sets to advance in the Spanish capital since then. Very often he didn’t even need two.

During this week, the Canadian only finished one match. The win against Ruud, by the way, is of great value, as the Norwegian is the first player to win thirty matches on the circuit this year.

The other duels Auger-Aliassime entered ended in a substandard way. The Czech player gave up his match against him twice. In the third round, Jakub Mensik canceled his match against the Canadian in the second set. In Friday’s semifinal, another Czech, Jiri Lehecka, retired during the first set.

Italian Janik Sinner did not even enter the quarterfinal battle with the native of Montreal. Auger-Aliassime had much less to do with advancing to the final than his opponent.

That would be the Russian Rublev, who is having a rollercoaster season . The Russian has won five of the six matches against the Canadian. The final in Madrid is scheduled for Sunday at 18:30.

Source: ATP, MMOpen