Felix Auger-Aliassime did not create a break point on Saturday against Richard Gasquet, but still progressed to his second ATP Tour final in as many weeks by dominating two tie-breaks in a 7-6(2), 7-6(3) win at the European Open.

After claiming his second tour-level title last week in Florence, Auger-Aliassime will face Sebastian Korda on Sunday in Antwerp as he contests his 12th tour-level final. He will seek to extend his winning streak to eight matches and further solidify his seventh-place position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin as he chases his Nitto ATP Finals debut.

“It was the most difficult match this week so far,” said the second seed, who came from set down to defeat Daniel Evans in the quarter-finals. “If I didn’t serve the way I did it would have been really tough to win. My serve helped me tremendously to get through my service games easily and then, after, giving myself chances.

“But he was playing really good. He’s still playing so well after so many years on the Tour. All credits to him for pushing… He’s been a great leader in our sport and a great example.”

In a high-level and fast-paced semi-final, neither man saw a break point until Gasquet earned a look at 5-5 in the second set. But Auger-Aliassime was up to the task as he powered through to hold and then commanded the second tie-break to seal victory.

Firing 22 aces and winning 85 per cent (44/52) of his first-serve points, the Canadian built early leads in both tie-breaks, buoyed by confidence from his serving success. He raced to a 5/0 lead in the first-set tie-break and led 3/1 in the second tie-break, staying perfect on serve in both against the veteran Frenchman.

Auger-Aliassime will seek to win his third tour-level trophy of both this season and his career on Sunday following triumphs in Rotterdam and Florence.

Stefanos Tsitsipas delivered a clinical semi-final showing on Saturday at the Stockholm Open, where he eased past Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2, 6-2 to maintain his unbeaten record at the ATP 250 event.

The top seed broke Ruusuvuori’s serve five times in the pair’s maiden tour-level meeting, finding consistency behind his groundstrokes to overpower the Finn in 74 minutes. The win improved Tsitsipas’ record in Stockholm to 7-0, and the Greek will hope to seal a second title at the hard-court event when he returns on Sunday for the championship match against Holger Rune.

“[It was] a great match from my side, I think I played very well,” said Tsitsipas after his victory. “I was really focused, [it was] one of the matches where I was really into the game and I was able to produce some really good tennis throughout the entire match, pretty much. I was there, I was very daring, I was really going for it, and it worked in my favour.”

Tsitsipas has shown no nerves upon returning to compete in Stockholm for the first time since 2018, when he lifted his maiden ATP Tour title in the Swedish capital. He has not dropped a set in moving past Maxime Cressy, home favourite Mikael Ymer and Ruusuvuori, and he believes that his past success at the event has helped him find his best level this week.

“I’ve created some good memories here,” said Tsitsipas. “2018 was the year that I got my first title here. Of course, I love good things in the back of my head. I’ve had some good interactions with the crowd, the people here are lovely, and I’m enjoying the Swedish hospitality.”

Saturday’s victory was a Tour-leading 56th of the 2022 season for Tsitsipas, who has already booked his place at November’s Nitto ATP Finals. He has now reached seven tour-level finals this year, the joint-most alongside World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

Sunday’s clash against Rune will be an opportunity for Tsitsipas to avenge his four-set fourth-round defeat to the #NextGenATP Dane in May at Roland Garros. The World No. 5 admitted he sees some similarities between himself and Rune, who will be competing in his third tour-level final of the year.

“We are both big fighters,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m going to try to give my best out there on the court. Holger is someone that has been developing and doing well recently. We have played plenty of times against each other, more on the practice court, and I’m looking forward to that battle.”

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek advanced to their second straight ATP Tour final with a Saturday victory in Naples. After a deep run last week in Florence, the Croatian-American pair will now play for its second title of the season at the Tennis Napoli Cup.

The top seeds edged Italians Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori 6-7(8), 6-3, 11-9 to reach their fifth tour-level final of 2022. The Lyon champions sit 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings as they chase a Top 7 place which would guarantee qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Now on 2,500 points, Dodig/Krajicek will need to continue their strong form in Basel and Paris in order to close what is currently a 650-point gap to seventh place. They can add 100 points to their tally in Sunday’s final, where they will met third-seeded Aussies Matthew Ebden and John Peers.

Ebden/Peers advanced to the final with a 6-3, 7-5 win against Nikola Cacic and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

Dutch Delight In Antwerp
Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor continued their unseeded run at the European Open with a 6-3, 6-4 against Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Prior to downing the fourth seeds in Saturday’s semi-finals, the pair opened its Antwerp campaign with an upset of top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

They will look to continue their perfect run on the week by winning a fourth straight-sets match in the final against second seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matwe Middelkoop, who advanced on Friday with a 7-6(6), 2-6, 10-7 win against Dutchmen Sander Arends and David Pel.

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Top Seeds Strong In Stockholm
Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo excelled in the clutch moments to defeat fourth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-5, 7-5 on Saturday at the Stockholm Open.

The top seeds, who opened their campaign with a Match Tie-break win, await the winner of the second semi-final which pits third seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara against Maxime Cressy and Albano Olivetti.

Sebastian Korda won a semi-final thriller at the European Open Saturday when he rallied from a break down in the third set to edge Dominic Thiem 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(4) at the ATP 250 event.

The American recovered from losing a tight first set as he held his nerve and maintained his focus in the crucial moments to advance to his second tour-level final of the season after two hours and 47 minutes.

In his first ATP Head2Head meeting against the Austrian Thiem, Korda hit 49 winners, won 72 per cent (49/68) of his first-serve points and broke four times. The 22-year-old will face second-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the championship match.

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#NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune reached his third tour-level final of the season Saturday when he edged Alex de Minaur 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-5 at the Stockholm Open.

The 19-year-old showed his fighting qualities as he battled from a set and a break down against the Australian to advance at the ATP 250 event after two hours and 52 minutes. Rune has now won his past five matches that have gone to a deciding set. He overcame Cameron Norrie in three sets in the quarter-finals in Stockholm.

“It was a brutal match from the beginning to the end,” Rune said in his on-court interview. “Super long rallies. Really exhausting. He takes the ball super early and puts you under a lot of pressure but I am super happy I was able to raise my level towards the end of the second set and I started a bit better than expected in the third. I am super happy with how I fought until the end.”

In an attacking performance, the Dane stepped inside the baseline and fired 45 winners to earn his 28th tour-level win of the season. Rune, currently No. 24 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the championship match after the top seed defeated Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2, 6-2.

Earlier this season, he captured his maiden tour-level title in Munich before he advanced to the final in Sofia. Rune will compete at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in November, having qualified last month.

De Minaur was aiming to reach his second tour-level final of the season after winning the title in Atlanta.

With his back against the wall Saturday, Matteo Berrettini survived to reach the final at the Tennis Napoli Cup. After a slow start, the Italian raised his level on serve to overcome American Mackenzie McDonald 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-3.

In a hard-fought clash at the ATP 250 event, Berrettini struggled on serve in the first set and was troubled by a foot injury, receiving a medical timeout at 2-5 in the opener.

However, the second seed stuck to the task at hand and slowly turned the match around. He fired 10 aces and struck 30 winners across the second and third sets to advance after two hours and 25 minutes on home soil.

“I don’t even know how I did it,” Berrettini said in his on-court interview. “I wasn’t feeling very good. I asked for the physio because my foot was hurting. It happened so many times in my career that I had to fight through so many things, not just thinking about the tennis ball. I didn’t want to retire. My team told me ‘I think you should stop’. But I tried and I found a way.”

With his victory, Berrettini has climbed to 13th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin on 2,375 points. The 26-year-old, currently 690 points behind seventh-placed Felix Auger-Aliassime, will need a strong end to the season to give him a chance of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for a third time.

Berrettini, who did not drop a set in his opening two matches in Naples, will face countryman Lorenzo Musetti in the final on Sunday after the 20-year-old maintained his good hard-court form to down Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4.

Musetti reached the semi-finals in his past two tournaments in Sofia and Florence, but he rarely looked in danger of falling at the same stage in Naples, where he found rhythm behind his groundstrokes to dictate play against Kecmanovic. He broke the Serbian’s serve three times en route to an 89-minute win to the delight of the home fans.

“I’m enjoying playing with this beautiful view, on this beautiful court, a lot,” said Musetti after the match. “I think I’m playing my best tennis on hard courts for sure. I’m serving really big, I’ve only [conceded] a break once in three matches and I haven’t lost a set. I’m feeling confident, especially with the serve, and I’m returning pretty well, so I think I did a lot of improvements from last season.”

#NextGenATP star Musetti lifted his maiden tour-level crown in Hamburg in July and is now 29-23 for the season. Currently third in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan, he has already secured his spot at November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year, and will now play for his second ATP Tour title in his maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with his good friend Berrettini.

“Tomorrow we will be rivals for the time on court, and for the time off court we will still be friends, for sure,” said Musetti. “Especially in the last part of the year, we have shared a lot of memories and times together. Especially at the Davis Cup, but even at tournaments we practise a lot together. Even here, today. So we are really close, and tomorrow is going to be a really tough one for both. The winner will take all, but for sure the friendship will remain.”

The Nitto ATP Finals will award a record $14.75 million in prize money at this year’s season finale, which will be played at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 13-20 November.

The prize money pool reflects an increase of 103 per cent on the 2021 tournament and a 64 per cent increase on the 2019 event, the last pre-pandemic edition of the Nitto ATP Finals.

If the champion at this year’s tournament lifts the trophy with a perfect record, he will earn $4,740,300, a 105 per cent increase year over year. That would be a record prize money for a champion in all of tennis.

Three matches at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals will be worth more than $1 million. Each semi-final victory will be worth $1.07 million and the championship match will yield the winner $2,200,400.

*Singles Participation Fee Schedule (2022)
1 match: $160,000
2 matches: $240,000
3 matches: $320,000

If an undefeated doubles team lifts the trophy in Turin, the winners will share $930,300, a 117 per cent increase compared to 2021.

Doubles Participation Fee Schedule (2021)
1 match: $52,000
2 matches: $97,500
3 matches: $130,000

Still riding high from his title last week in Florence, Felix Auger-Aliassime moved within two wins of a repeat run in Stockholm on Friday. But the second-seeded Canadian needed to dig deep to fend off Daniel Evans 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in a two-hour, 40-minute match that concluded after midnight at the European Open.

“It was a really high-quality match from both of us and I couldn’t regret too much, or anything really, in the first set. He just played a bit too good,” the Canadian said post-match. “Then I started serving better, I was able to hold my serve a little bit easier, so that of course helped.

“From the tie-break and the third set, it was a great finish from me. I’m really happy I made the effort to dig deep and push hard until the end.”

The victory further secured Auger-Aliassime’s seventh-place position in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin, as the Canadian strives to clinch what may be the final qualification spot for this year’s Nitto ATP Finals. With 3,065 points, he now holds a 180-point lead over Tokyo champion Taylor Fritz in eighth place.

After the aggressive Evans claimed the opening set by winning its lone break point early on, the Briton fended off three break chances midway through the second to set up the crucial tie-break. The late stages of the set were dominated by the server, and that continued in the tie-break, in which Auger-Aliassime won all five points on his delivery.

Evans continued to attack and brought up deuce on return while leading 1-0, but he would never create a second break point. Instead, Auger-Aliassime finally converted on his sixth break opportunity and again on his seventh to put the match beyond doubt.

Seeking the third tour-level title of this season and his career, Auger-Aliassime will look to extend his six-match winning streak when he meets Richard Gasquet in the semi-finals. The Frenchman was a  6-2, 7-6(6) winer against David Goffin earlier on Friday night as he advanced to his second ATP Tour semi-final of 2022 (Geneva) and his first on hard courts since Sofia in 2020.