Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back titles at an ATP Tour event for the first time on Sunday, beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 to lift his second Open 13 Provence trophy in Marseille.

Tsitsipas broke serve on three occasions and saved four of five break points to take the title in 86 minutes. After losing his opening two ATP Head2Head encounters against Auger-Aliassime, Tsitsipas adds to his victory against the Canadian at last year’s Rolex Shanghai Masters to level their rivalry at 2-2.

This is the second straight year that Tsitsipas has lifted the Marseille trophy without dropping a set. The 21-year-old lost in the first round in his first two appearances at the tournament, but has now won eight straight matches in Marseille. Tsitsipas is the first man since Thomas Enqvist in 1998 to win back-to-back Marseille crowns.

Tsitsipas improves to 5-5 in ATP Tour championship matches. The 6’4” right-hander has won four of his five tour-level events on indoor hard courts.

Tsitsipas earned an early service break in his first final of the year, striking with depth on his groundstrokes at 2-1 to rush Auger-Aliassime into multiple forehand errors. After saving three break points at 5-3, the Greek served with power and ripped a forehand into his opponent’s forehand corner to convert his first set point.

With pinpoint passing shots, Tsitsipas claimed the first break of the second set at 2-2. Despite dropping serve in the following game, the World No. 6 quickly regained his advantage. Tsitsipas outmanoeuvred his opponent in multiple net exchanges and extracted backhand errors to earn a 4-3 lead. The defending champion converted his first championship point as Auger-Aliassime struck a forehand beyond the baseline.

Auger-Aliassime was aiming to capture his first trophy in five ATP Tour finals. The 19-year-old, who also finished as runner-up in Rotterdam last week, saved match points in his opening two matches en route to the final in Marseille.

Tsitsipas collects 250 FedEx ATP Ranking points and receives €116,030 in prize money. Auger-Aliassime gains 150 ATP Ranking points and earns €64,225.

In just their third event as a team, Nicolas Mahut and Vasek Pospisil lifted their second team title at the Open 13 Provence on Sunday.

The French-Canadian tandem, making its first appearance since winning the 2016 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, saved both break points it faced to take the title after 72 minutes.

Mahut and Pospisil have won eight consecutive matches as a pairing, with their only defeat coming in 2015 on their team debut in Rotterdam. The unseeded duo did not drop a set en route to the title in Marseille, which included back-to-back victories against top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies and second seeds Koolhof and Mektic.

This is Mahut’s third title run in Marseille. The Frenchman triumphed alongside Edouard Roger-Vasselin in 2012 and also lifted the trophy with Julien Benneteau in 2017. Mahut owns 30 tour-level doubles crowns.

Pospisil improves to 7-7 in tour-level doubles championship matches. This is the Canadian’s first ATP Tour doubles title since claiming the Rotterdam trophy with Mahut in 2016.

Koolhof and Mektic were attempting to capture their first title in their maiden final as a team. The second seeds began their partnership last month at the Adelaide International and own a 5-4 record.

Mahut and Pospisil receive 250 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and share €39,130 in prize money. Koolhof and Mektic gain 150 points and split €20,050.

Two quarter-finals were played early Saturday at the Rio Open presented by Claro due to Friday rain. But the rain wouldn’t stay away in Brazil, and neither semi-final was finished due to the weather, with play being called for the evening after midnight.

Third seed Cristian Garin and Italian qualifier Gianluca Mager both lead by a set in their respective semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro, but they will have to return to the clay on Sunday morning to finish the job. Both matches are scheduled to resume not before 1pm local time, with the final not to be played before 5:30pm.

Garin leads fifth seed Borna Coric 6-4, 4-4, and he is to serve at 15/15 when play resumes. The 23-year-old was up a break in the second set, but launched a short backhand long to allow Coric back on serve.

The Chilean lost five of his first six matches this season. But he is flying as high as ever, currently at a career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 25 two weeks after winning his first ATP Tour title of the season at the Cordoba Open. Garin is pursuing a personal-best eight-match winning streak, and he is projected to crack the Top 20 by defeating Coric.

Coric is trying to reach his first final of the season. The Croatian’s most recent title came on grass at 2018 Halle.

In the other semi-final, Mager leads Hungarian lucky loser Attila Balazs 7-6(4), 6-3. Mager owned only two tour-level wins (2-3) before this week.

Earlier Saturday, Mager completed a rain-delayed 7-6(4), 7-5 triumph against top seed and recent Australian Open finalist Dominic Thiem. Ironically, he beat Balazs in the final round of qualifying 6-0, 6-2.

Yoshihito Nishioka appeared to be in deep trouble when he went back to the locker room for a second rain delay early on in his Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com semi-final. But the Japanese returned to Stadium Court with a renewed energy, rallying to beat 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Ugo Humbert 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Nishioka is the first Japanese player to reach the final at this ATP 250 since Kei Nishikori won the title in 2008. The lefty will play a big server — second seed Milos Raonic or fourth seed Reilly Opelka — for the trophy on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who captured his maiden ATP Tour title in his first final at 2018 Shenzhen, has not reached a championship match since that victory. But the speedy lefty showed why he is capable of giving plenty of players fits on Saturday, shrinking the court with his dogged defence.

Nishioka won 27 of 37 points in the deciding set to defeat the in-form Frenchman, who triumphed in Auckland in January. Early on, Humbert was in control of the points, playing controlled offence that saw him make few errors. But after the rain, Nishioka was able to break down Humbert’s game and put more pressure on him.

Nishioka saved six of the eight break points he faced, including two in the first game of the second set. Although he didn’t strike any aces, Nishioka won 74 per cent of his first-serve points to advance after one hour and 42 minutes.

The Japanese No. 2 is guaranteed to move past his previous career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 58 on Monday. He reached that spot on 20 March 2017, and four days later tore his left ACL during a match in Miami. Now Nishioka is breaking new ground, and he is projected to crack the Top 50 for the first time.

Did You Know?
Nishioka also lost the first set in his quarter-final against Brandon Nakashima. He rallied to win that match 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.

Novak Djokovic will get plenty of attention as the top seed in the singles draw at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships next week. But the fans in Dubai and around the world will get a special treat.

Djokovic will also compete in doubles, partnering former World No. 3 Marin Cilic for the first time. The singles stars will not have it easy, as they will face top seeds and Australian Open champions Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury in the first round.

Djokovic has competed in doubles in Dubai five times previously (0-5), and he most recently played doubles at this year’s inaugural ATP Cup, winning two matches alongside Viktor Troicki. Djokovic and Troicki clinched Team Serbia’s championship victory against Team Spain with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez.

It is a star-studded doubles draw at the ATP 500, where 2019 Nitto ATP Finals competitors Ram/Salisbury, Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek, Kevin Krawietz/Andreas Mies, Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau, Pierre-Hugues Herbert (w/Paire), Raven Klaasen (w/Marach) and Michael Venus (w/Peers) are all in action.

Zverev Brothers, Kyrgios Playing Doubles In Acapulco
There will be plenty of singles stars in doubles action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, too. Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev, the defending champions, will begin their title defence against qualifiers.

Nick Kyrgios will partner fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson against Frenchmen Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin in the first round. #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will compete with Monaco’s Hugo Nys, and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov will team with American Taylor Fritz.

They will all have a tough time chasing the title with standout doubles teams leading the draw. The top seeds are Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, the 2019 year-end No. 1 team. Longtime partners Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo are the second seeds and 2019 Montreal champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the third seeds.

Fourth seeds Max Purcell and Luke Saville, who reached this year’s Australian Open final, bring plenty of momentum to Acapulco.

Demoliner/Middelkoop Top Seeds In Santiago
Marcelo Demoliner and Matwe Middelkoop are the top doubles seeds at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago. The second seeds are Marcelo Arevalo and Jonny O’Mara, who pushed Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to a Match Tie-break in the Delray Beach semi-finals.

One year ago, Rafael Nadal lost an epic second-round battle against Nick Kyrgios in a final-set tie-break at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. This year, the two-time Acapulco champion could face another Aussie in the second round: #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur, whom the Spanish lefty beat in a three-set thriller in the semi-finals of the ATP Cup.

“I wasn’t surprised. He’s young. He has a lot of energy. He plays with a lot of passion. Sometimes even too much,” Nadal said, cracking a smile. “I think when the match was going on, I was able to play better and better, to find a little bit better the rhythm and the energy back to my body.”

De Minaur played some of the best tennis of his career in that showdown. But first, both men will have to get through tough opening rounds. Nadal will face countryman Pablo Andujar, against whom he holds a 3-0 ATP Head2Head series lead.

Watch Highlights Of Nadal & De Minaur’s ATP Cup Battle:

In their most recent meeting at the 2014 Rio Open presented by Claro, which was held on clay, Nadal needed a final-set tie-break to beat Andujar. This event is held on hard court, and at last year’s US Open Andujar earned the best Grand Slam result of his career by reaching the fourth round.

De Minaur will play fellow #NextGenATP star Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia. This will be the Aussie’s first match since his loss against Nadal at the ATP Cup due to an abdominal injury. De Minaur beat Kecmanovic in four sets at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals.

The seeded player in Nadal’s quarter is 2019 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist Dusan Lajovic, who opens against American Steve Johnson.

Watch Highlights Of The 2019 Acapulco Final:

Kyrgios, who after upsetting Nadal went on to win the title last year by beating former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, John Isner and 2018 Nitto ATP Finals titlist Alexander Zverev, is on the opposite half of the draw. The sixth seed will open against in-form Frenchman Ugo Humbert. If he wins, he will face countryman John Millman or American Taylor Fritz.

Kyrgios could potentially meet red-hot #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals. The fourth-seeded Canadian, who has already made two ATP Tour finals this year, will make his Acapulco debut against a qualifier.

Zverev, who has reached at least the semi-finals in Acapulco in his two previous appearances, is the second seed. The German will begin the pursuit of his first title in 2020 against Aussie Jordan Thompson. Fifth-seeded Isner, whom Zverev lost to in the 2018 Miami final, is the other seeded player in his quarter, and they are both on the same half of the draw as Kyrgios.

A first-round match to watch for pits three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, the third seed, against his American friend, Frances Tiafoe. Wawrinka beat Tiafoe in a three-set thriller in Basel last October.

Did You Know?
Nadal owns a 15-2 record in Acapulco, reaching the final or lifting the trophy in three of his four appearances. The Spaniard is trying to win a tour-level title for the 17th consecutive year.

Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to his second ATP Tour final in as many weeks on Saturday, beating Gilles Simon 7-5, 7-6(2) at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.

The #NextGenATP Canadian saved two of three break points to record his 12th victory in 19 matches this year in just under two hours. Auger-Aliassime will be aiming to lift his first title in his fifth ATP Tour championship match. At last week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, the 19-year-old beat former Top 10 stars Grigor Dimitrov and Pablo Carreno Busta to reach his second ATP 500 final.

Auger-Aliassime has saved five match points en route to the championship match in Marseille. The World No. 18 survived two of them in his first-round encounter against Stefano Travaglia, before saving three match points in his second-round clash against Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

“Things are working for me, but I also think I have the correct mindset at the moment,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I am fighting on every point and keep insisting, especially when it’s not working. It’s another proof that working hard pays off and I am very happy to have won that first set and win in two sets today.”

Auger-Aliassime will face second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for the title. The defending champion beat Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-3 to earn his seventh straight match win in Marseille.

Auger-Aliassime leads Tsitsipas 2-1 in their ATP Head2Head series. The 19-year-old beat the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion in Indian Wells and at The Queen’s Club last year, but Tsitsipas triumphed in the pair’s most recent meeting four months ago in Shanghai.

“I play tomorrow in my second consecutive final,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I have a different opponent from last week in Rotterdam. With Stefanos, we have a lot of history. We know each other well, but I am going to take it like any other tennis match and tomorrow I will try to do everything to win the title.”

After committing four consecutive errors to drop serve at 2-3, Auger-Aliassime raised his game to move one set away from the final. From 2-5 down in the opener, the Canadian found success with a series of powerful forehands to earn back-to-back service breaks. Auger-Aliassime ripped a forehand approach up the line to convert his first set point.

“Another comeback today, I am starting to get used to it,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I told myself during the match that if I have been able to do it this week, I should be able to do it again today.”

In a second set dominated by serve, Auger-Aliassime proved the more consistent player in crucial moments. From 1/1 in the tie-break, the Canadian held each of his three service points before landing a forehand winner to earn four match points. Simon committed a double fault to end the semi-final encounter.

Simon was bidding to reach his third Marseille final by recording his 30th victory at the ATP 250 tournament. The 35-year-old owns more victories in Marseille (29) than at any other tour-level event.

After Friday night rain forced Gianluca Mager to sleep on a 7-6(4), 2-1 lead against Dominic Thiem at the Rio Open presented by Claro, the World No. 128 held his nerve on Saturday to complete a 7-6(4), 7-5 victory against the top seed. The Italian qualifier is into his first ATP Tour semi-final.

Upon the resumption of play, Mager held his opening three service games to serve for a place in the last four at 5-4. Despite dropping serve, Mager moved up the court in the next game and landed back-to-back winners to earn a second opportunity to serve for the match. On his first match point, Mager fired an ace out wide to complete the win after one hour and 55 minutes.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Mager. “For me, it was a dream only to play with him. Now that I beat him, for me, it is a dream. He is a great, unbelievable player… I am very emotional.”

Watch Mager’s Post-Match Interview:

In his first event since reaching the Australian Open final last month, Thiem was aiming to win his second title in Rio de Janeiro. The World No. 4 drops to 12-4 at the ATP 500 event.

Mager has won 10 consecutive sets from qualifying to reach the last four. The 25-year-old, who lifted three ATP Challenger Tour trophies last year, also beat Buenos Aires champion Casper Ruud in the first round. Mager will face lucky loser Attila Balazs of Hungary for a place in the championship match.

“It is a big opportunity,” said Mager. “I [will] do my best. I [will] fight every point and we will see.”

Trailing Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez 2-6, 2-2 before the rain hit on Friday, Balazs raised his level on Saturday to earn a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory after two hours and 28 minutes. The 31-year-old broke serve on six occasions to reach his third ATP Tour semi-final.

Mager and Balazs will be meeting for the second time at this year’s event. In the second qualifying round, Mager dropped just two games to overcome Balazs 6-0, 6-2 and book his spot in the main draw. Balazs later received a place in the main draw as a lucky loser.

Nicolas Mahut and Vasek Pospisil needed just 56 minutes to reach their first final as a pairing in more than four years on Saturday, eliminating top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies 6-3, 6-2 at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.

The unseeded duo, competing for the first time since lifting the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament trophy in 2016, saved both break points it faced and won 88 per cent of first-serve points (30/34) en route to victory. Mahut and Pospisil own a 7-1 record as a team, with their only defeat coming in 2015 in Rotterdam.

Mahut is attempting to capture his third doubles crown in Marseille. The 38-year-old combined with Edouard Roger-Vasselin to lift the trophy in 2012 and also triumphed alongside Julien Benneteau in 2017.

Mahut and Pospisil will meet second seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic in the final. Koolhof and Mektic advanced to the championship match on Friday, beating Frederik Nielsen and Tim Puetz 6-4, 6-2.

Bryan Brothers Reach Eighth Delray Beach Final
Defending champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan battled through their second Match Tie-break of the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com on Saturday, defeating Marcelo Arevalo and Jonny O’Mara 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-4 to reach the final. It is the brothers’ eighth trip to the Delray Beach championship match.

Bryan and Bryan are now 8-0 in semi-finals at this ATP 250. The five-time Delray Beach champions will play fourth seeds Luke Bambridge/Ben McLachlan or Nikola Cacic/Hugo Nys for the title on Sunday.

The top seeds last lifted a trophy nearly one year ago at the Miami Open presented by Itau. If Bryan/Bryan emerge victorious, it will be the 20th consecutive year in which they earn at least one tour-level crown together.