Felix Keeps Run Rolling, Sets Rublev Final Clash In Marseille

  • Posted: Feb 19, 2022

Felix Keeps Run Rolling, Sets Rublev Final Clash In Marseille

Feb192022

Canadian into back-to-back finals, Rublev fights off Bonzi

Having finally captured his maiden ATP Tour title last week in Rotterdam, Felix Auger-Aliassime will hope the floodgates have opened.

The 21-year-old reached consecutive tour-level finals as he ended the breakout run of Roman Safiullin with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) victory in the semi-finals of the Open 13 Provence in Marseille on Saturday.

Safiullin more than played his part in a tense two-hour, 27-minute battle, but Auger-Aliassime’s quality shone through at crucial moments as the Canadian sealed his eighth consecutive win.

Some early nerves from Safiullin gave his opponent a break in the opening game of the match, but the Russian quickly settled and hit back after converting his sixth break point of a marathon sixth game.

After another quick exchange of breaks the qualifier drew near to the first set as he earned a 4/1 lead in the tie-break, but Auger-Aliassime strung together a series of big points to turn it around, winning six on the trot to take the first set.

A second set dominated by serve almost opened up for Auger-Aliassime in the eighth game. The Russian showed more courage under pressure to save four break points and hold, but it was the World No. 9 who once again triumphed in the tie-break, Safiullun netting a forehand to send Auger-Aliassime into his tenth ATP Tour final.

After impressing for Team Russia at the ATP Cup in January, World No. 163 Safiullin will hope his strong run at the ATP 250 event is the trigger for a big move up the ATP Rankings in 2022. His bid to reach a first ATP Tour final fell just short as Auger-Aliassime’s serving got him through in crucial moments, the Canadian ending with 15 aces.

Auger-Aliassime will face Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s championship match, after the World No. 7 once again proved he is having no problems upsetting the locals this week in Marseille.

The Russian defeated a French opponent for the third consecutive match as he put an end to Benjamin Bonzi’s dream run at the Open 13 Provence with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 semi-final victory on Saturday.

“[Coming into] this week I was really motivated,” said Rublev after the match. “I was so excited to compete, to try to play at a good level, to win some matches and it’s my first final of the season so I’m really happy and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

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It was another encouraging performance for the World No. 69 Bonzi, playing in his first tour-level semi-final, but Rublev found an extra gear in the deciding set to reach his maiden final of 2022.

The Russian came out firing in the pair’s first ATP Head2Head meeting, hitting a series of searing forehand winners to seal the first set as ninth seed Bonzi struggled to live with Rublev’s power.

Bonzi, who has won seven ATP Challenger Tour titles in the past 12 months, reacted to dropping the first set of his Marseille run by upping his level to push Rublev hard in the second set. The Russian saved two break points before holding in a marathon third game, but Bonzi persevered and didn’t miss his opportunity to break for 4-3. The Frenchman served out the set to level the match as a delighted home crowd sensed an upset.

Rublev required deciding sets against both Richard Gasquet and Lucas Pouille in his previous rounds and did not panic as the crowd grew louder. The Russian broke early to establish a 3-0 lead and defied the febrile atmosphere to go on and seal victory in one hour, 52 minutes, having served nine aces and won 75 per cent (52/69) of points behind his first serve overall.

“It was super tough,” said Rublev after winning through to face Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s championship match. “Benjamin is playing really great this year, he beat great players this week and I’m happy to be in the final.”

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