Felix Holds His Nerve To Reach Lyon Final

Felix Auger-Aliassime booked his place in a second ATP Tour final of 2019 on Friday evening after coming through a hard-fought 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory against top-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in two hours and 16 minutes at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 19-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who also beat Basilashvili at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March, will now play Benoit Paire of France in Saturday’s final at the ATP 250 tournament. It will be a first-time FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Auger-Aliassime lost to Laslo Djere on 24 February in the Rio Open presented by Claro final .

Basilashvili took control immediately, storming through the first set with two service breaks in 27 minutes, but the World No. 18 was unable to convert three break points on Auger-Aliassime’s serve at 4-4 in the second set. The Canadian later broke clear from 3/3 in the tie-break.

Auger-Aliassime saved two break points at 2-3 in the decider and grew in confidence when Basilashvili struck consecutive backhand errors in the seventh game. Auger-Aliassime finished his 20th match win of the year with his 12th ace. Basilashvili, who is left to rue converting only two of nine break point chances, is now 14-12 on the season.

Earlier in the day, Paire blasted his way into his seventh ATP Tour final. The 30-year-old struck 10 aces and won 33 of 34 first-service points to overcome American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 in 65 minutes.

Paire, who is 2-4 in ATP Tour finals, lifted trophies at the 2015 Swedish Open (d. Robredo) and the Grand Prix Hassan II at Marrakech (d. Andujar) in March this year.

Dodig/Roger-Vasselin Advance To Lyon Doubles Final
Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin will attempt to capture their second team trophy of the season after the second seeds swept past fourth seeds Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes.

This year’s Open Sud de France titlists will next challenge another all-British team, third-seeded brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski, in Saturday’s final. The Skupskis are 3-5 in team finals, including victory last month at the Hungarian Open.