Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime will participate in his eighth career final on the ATP circuit, he who defeated American Sam Querrey in two sets of 6-4 and 7-5 in his semi-duel. final, Saturday, in Stuttgart.
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His 0-7 record in the final game of a tournament, however, is far from brilliant. The 20-year-old even bowed out in two innings on each occasion, the most recent being at the Murray River Omnium in Australia in February.
Auger-Aliassime is also familiar with the final in Stuttgart, as he lost in two sets of 6-4 and 7-6 (11) in the 2019 edition, ahead of Italy’s Matteo Berrettini. Since the annual classic has been canceled in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this will be a second consecutive final for “FAA” at this tournament.
In his semi-final duel against Querrey, which lasted 80 minutes, the Quebecer did not have to face a single break point.
Since the start of the tournament, Auger-Aliassime has not lost a single round.
A known opponent
In the final, Auger-Aliassime will find a player he knows in Marin Cilic, as the two players have faced each other on two occasions.
The Croatian had won these two duels, respectively in 2019 and 2020, on hard court. It will be the first time that the two men have played a match on a grassy surface.
To make it to the final, the 47th racquet in the world defeated Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals, among others. In the next round, he took advantage of the withdrawal of the injured Austrian Jurij Rodionov to reach the final. Cilic still hasn’t lost a single round during this tournament either.
“I feel really good and I’m excited to be in the final after a pretty long time without reaching this stage,” said Cilic, whose comments were echoed by the ATP site after his semi-final. It’s a very positive week, I played well and served well. Considering it’s a shorter season, with a week less preparation, it was good to play this week. Losing to Roger Federer in Paris gave me more time to prepare on the grass. ”
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