Felix Extends Strong Run In Marseille

Felix Auger-Aliassime extended his winning streak to six matches on Thursday at the Open 13 Provence, moving past French wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6(2), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals in Marseille.

The Canadian captured his maiden tour-level title in Rotterdam last week and backed up that impressive run with a solid display against the former World No. 5. Auger-Aliassime fired seven aces and won 83 per cent (33/40) of his first-serve points to triumph after one hour and 45 minutes in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“I had three days to rest and recover and is a situation we are used to,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “I am confident, so I can not complain. It is better to play more matches than less but it was definitely [important] to refocus and I try and get this first win today.”

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The third seed, currently at a career-high No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, is now 13-3 on the season, after also advancing to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January. The 21-year-old helped guide Canada to the ATP Cup title and has earned Top 10 wins against Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2022.

Auger-Aliassime reached the final in Marseille in 2020 (l. to Tsitsipas) and will next face World No. 49 Ilya Ivashka.

In other action, Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who clinched six ATP Challenger Tour titles in 2021, advanced to the last eight at a tour-level event for the first time. The 25-year-old downed Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-3 in 87 minutes. Fourth seed Aslan Karatsev awaits next.

Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin also booked his spot in the quarter-finals, clawing past Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(4) after two hours and 45 minutes. Safiullin clinched ATP Cup victories over Arthur Rinderknech and James Duckworth at the start of the season.