AA+ Sportsmanship: Felix Tells Safiullin To Challenge

Felix Auger-Aliassime won his first ATP Tour title last week in Rotterdam, and will bid for another in Sunday’s Marseille final. But it’s not just success that has earned the Canadian the respect of his peers; it’s the manner in which he has conducted himself.
There was no better illustration of that than in his Saturday semi-final against Roman Safiullin at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.

Locked in a tight battle with the Russian, FAA watched a stinging passing shot fly past him down the line midway through the second set. The lasered forehand was called out, but the third seed was not so sure.

After a brief discussion with the chair umpire, who started to mistakenly announce a challenge from the Canadian, Auger-Aliassime encouraged his opponent to call for a review.

Safiullin obliged and the replay revealed that his pass clipped the line, giving him a 15/0 advantage in the set’s sixth game. The Russian went on to hold in that frame, but Auger-Aliassime advanced with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory.