Felix Joins Elite Company With Top 200 Breakthrough

The Canadian conquest of the Emirates ATP Rankings has begun. Four weeks ago, the nation staked claim to the youngest player in the Top 100, as 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov continued his stunning ascent. On Monday, it will also have the youngest player in the Top 200.

Felix Auger-Aliassime continues to make history as he soars up the Emirates ATP Rankings, rising to a career-high No. 168 with his second ATP Challenger Tour title. The teen stormed back from a set and a break down to defeat Inigo Cervantes in Sevilla, Spain, on Saturday. With the victory, at 17 years and one month, he becomes the youngest to break into the Top 200 since Rafael Nadal in 2002.

“It’s quite special,” said Auger-Aliassime about the achievement. “It just proves that I’m doing the right things. But I’m aiming for much more than that. There’s still a lot of work to do and hopefully I’ll keep going like this.”

Over the past 20 years, only three players younger than the Canadian have made their Top 200 debut: Nadal, Lleyton Hewitt and Richard Gasquet.

Youngest To Make Top 200 Debut In Past 20 Years

The history-making week did not stop there. Auger-Aliassime also cemented himself in the ATP Challenger Tour record books, becoming the second-youngest player to win multiple titles. He stands behind only Gasquet, who was 16 years and eight months old when he claimed his second crown in Sarajevo in 2003.

Auger-Aliassime and Gasquet are two of only 10 players to win multiple Challenger titles at age 17 & under, also including Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych, and most recently Taylor Fritz. He lifted his maiden trophy in Lyon in June.

The Copa Sevilla celebrated its 20th edition with the Canadian’s victory, but also claimed a slice of history itself. The €64,000 event is the first tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour to boast consecutive 17 year old champions, with Casper Ruud lifting the trophy in 2016.

Auger-Aliassime is no stranger to etching his name in the record books, having become the first player born in the 2000s to earn an Emirates ATP Rankings point, when he qualified for the Drummondville Challenger in 2015. He is also the youngest player to win a match on the ATP Challenger Tour, at 14 years, 11 months, later that year in Granby, Canada.

In Other Action
#NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas became just the third player from Greece to win an ATP Challenger Tour title, defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 7-6(2) in Genova, Italy. He joins Konstantinos Economidis and Vasilis Mazarakis as Greek winners. He rises to a career-high No. 120 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Qualifier Jurgen Zopp continued his dominant return to action after dropping out of the Top 500 due to injury. The Estonian won his first Challenger title since 2014 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tommy Robredo in Alphen, Netherlands. He has won 26 of 27 matches since mid-July, including three Futures titles and the victory in Alphen.

Marcelo Arevalo made history for El Salvador, becoming the first player from his country to win a Challenger title. Arevalo defeated Daniel Elahi Galan 7-5, 6-4 in the Bogota, Colombia final. Also, Jason Jung claimed his second title and first of the 2017 season, defeating Ze Zhang 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in Zhangjiagang, China.