Tennis News

Auger-Aliassime fuels Turin chase with Brussels triumph

Felix Auger-Aliassime took the long road to victory on Sunday, but he did so in style to capture the title at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels.

The 25-year-old Canadian outlasted Jiri Lehecka 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-2 and firmly reignite his bid to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. Auger-Aliassime couldn’t convert two championship points in the second-set tie-break, but ultimately regrouped to carve out a clinical win.

With his two-hour, 34-minute victory, Auger-Aliassime jumped to ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, narrowing the gap to Lorenzo Musetti to just 330 points as the battle for the season finale heats up. However, he will like his chances during the European indoor swing.

The triumph marks Auger-Aliassime’s eighth ATP Tour title — tied with Milos Raonic for the most among Canadian men in the Open Era — and his sixth on indoor hard courts. He owns the most wins on indoor hard courts (76) since the start of the 2020 season, highlighted by consecutive titles at the ATP 500 in Basel.

In a serve-dominated final in Brussels, Auger-Aliassime was able to lean on his trademark power and razor-sharp groundstrokes to regroup in the deciding set and improve to 2-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Lehecka.

Auger-Aliassime’s 2025 campaign has been a rollercoaster. After roaring into the season with titles in Adelaide and Montpellier, a dip in form midway through the year raised questions. But since late summer, he has looked rejuvenated — reaching the US Open semi-finals and Shanghai quarter-finals before his run to a second title at the Belgian ATP 250.

For Lehecka, it was a familiar heartbreak on Belgian soil. The 23-year-old Czech, who lost last year’s final when it was held in Antwerp, couldn’t capitalise on the stretch of big hitting that led him into a third set.

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Sinner's Vienna Voyage: Tracing the Italian's evolution at the ATP 500

Few tournaments chart Jannik Sinner’s evolution quite like the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The Italian paid his first visit to Vienna as an 18-year-old wild card in 2019, when he made his maiden ATP 500 main-draw appearance. Six years later, Sinner returns to Vienna for his sixth appearance and as a former champion, having lifted the trophy in 2023.

Flashback to 2019 and Sinner’s Vienna outing marked an important milestone in his teenage breakthrough. Beyond the viral moment of him casually munching on a carrot during a changeover, Sinner notched a first-round win over respected veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber — his seventh tour-level victory — to secure his place in the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings.

Sinner arrived in Austria following a semi-final run at the ATP 250 in Antwerp and then after Vienna, he won the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF and an ATP Challenger Tour event in Ortisei, Italy.

Upon returning to Vienna in 2020, Sinner’s stay would be short as a leg injury forced his retirement in the second round. But he came back stronger in 2021, advancing to the semi-finals. That run propelled him into the Top 10, just two years removed from reaching the Top 100 at the same tournament.

Sinner’s fifth Vienna appearance proved to be his finest. Sinner stormed through the draw to lift the trophy, defeating four players who have all spent time inside the Top 10: Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev. At the time, Rublev and Medvedev were both Top 5 players.

Sinner’s championship-match victory against top-seeded Medvedev was a three-hour, six-minute thriller. It marked Sinner’s second win against Medvedev, who won their first six meetings. Since then, Sinner has turned the rivalry on its head, winning eight of their past nine encounters to take an 8-7 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Watch Highlights Of Sinner’s 2023 Vienna Final Win vs. Medvedev:

Weeks after toppling Medvedev in Vienna, Sinner repeated that feat in the Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals to earn a spot in the Turin title match. Novak Djokovic ultimately denied Sinner in the final, during which the Serbian claimed a record-breaking seventh title at the season finale.

Now a 21-time tour-level titlist with more than 300 career wins and 65 weeks spent as World No. 1, Sinner has come a long way since his 2019 Vienna debut. With each visit, Sinner’s time in Austria’s capital city serves as an opportunity to reflect on his journey. He started on the ATP Tour as a fast-rising teenager making his mark and has grown into one of the sport’s established superstars.

Sinner is the top seed in Vienna, with fellow Top 10 stars Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti also in action. Sinner, 43-6 on the season according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, is seeking his fourth title of the year. He triumphed at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and in Beijing.

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10 Years On: Federer's streak-starting win vs. Nadal in the 2015 Basel final

Ten years ago in the Swiss Indoors Basel final, Roger Federer made the most of his hometown advantage to notch a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win against Rafael Nadal — a pivotal result in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series that snapped Federer’s five-match losing streak against the Spaniard and started a five-match winning run of his own.

Adding further significance to the match, it was the great rivals’ first clash in nearly two years, since the 2014 Australian Open semi-finals. They would not meet again until the 2017 Australian Open final, making their Basel showdown their only match across the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

“Six hundred-plus days have gone by, so a lot of things have happened,” Federer said, noting his long wait to face Nadal. “Definitely I had the right game plan today.”

Late breaks decided the second and third sets in a closely contested final at the Basel event where Federer was once a ball boy. Nadal forced a final set with a break at 5-5 in the second, but Federer clinched the decisive break to lead 5-3 in the third with a series of groundstroke winners — a display of power that encapsulated a stellar attacking performance over the course of two hours.

“It was a very special day,” the Swiss added following his lone ATP Tour match against Nadal in his home nation. “Probably it was my best victory here in Basel.”

<img alt=”Roger Federer” style=”width: 100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/10/19/11/51/federer-basel-2015-pizza-party.jpg” />

_{^{Federer celebrated his win by throwing a pizza party for the tournament ballkids, as he often did at the Basel event. Photo Credit: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images}}

The Basel-born Federer trimmed Nadal’s advantage in their Lexus ATP Head2Head to 23-11 with the victory, ultimately closing the gap to 23-15 with his five-match winning streak. After Basel, Federer beat Nadal in a five-set final at the 2017 Australian Open, then notched dominant, straight-sets wins at the ATP Masters 1000s in Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai. Their next two matches would be their last, coming in quick succession in 2019: Nadal won a decisive Roland Garros semi-final en route to the title before Federer prevailed in a four-set Wimbledon semi-final.

Nadal finished with a 24-16 record in their Lexus ATP Head2Head, helped by three different five-match winning streaks (2005-06, 2008-09, 2013-14). Federer won consecutive matches just three times in their rivalry, and won more than two in a row just once — that run of five victories sparked by his Basel triumph.

Federer’s 2015 Basel title was his 88th tour-level singles trophy and his seventh in Basel. He closed his career with 103 titles, second only to Jimmy Connors’ 109, and a record 10 crowns at his hometown tournament.

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What is the Vienna tennis schedule?

The 2025 Erste Bank Open kick-starts on Monday with Top 10 star Alex de Minaur among those in action at the indoor hard-court ATP 500 in Vienna.

The third-seeded De Minaur, who is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and well-placed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second consecutive year, takes on home wild card Jurij Rodionov in his Vienna opener. Fifth seed Karen Khachanov and eighth seed Alexander Bublik will also be in action on Monday in the Austrian capital.

View Monday’s full schedule below…

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2025

Center Court – start 13:30
Luciano Darderi (ITA) vs Brandon Nakashima (USA)
Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) vs [8] Alexander Bublik (KAZ)

Not Before 17:30
[3] Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs [WC] Jurij Rodionov (AUT)

Not Before 20:15
[5] Karen Khachanov vs Tallon Griekspoor (NED)

#glaubandich Court – start 16:00
[Q] Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) vs [Q] Matteo Arnaldi (ITA)

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Resurgent Medvedev wins first title for 882 days

A resurgent Daniil Medvedev claims his first title for 882 days with victory over Corentin Moutet in the Almaty Open final.

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Medvedev ends 882-day title drought in Almaty

Daniil Medvedev’s title drought is over! Eight hundred and eighty-two days after triumphing in Rome, the 29-year-old returned to the winner’s circle at the Almaty Open on Sunday, when he beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who was chasing his maiden tour-level title.

Since his victory in the Italian capital in 2023, the former World No. 1 Medvedev had lost finals at the US Open, Beijing, Vienna, Australian Open, Indian Wells and Halle. However, he ensured there would be no more final heartbreak in Almaty and is now just the second active male player to win 19 hard-court titles, joining Novak Djokovic (71).

In an entertaining final at the ATP 250 event, Medvedev coped with Moutet’s wizardry and moved forward effectively to back up his flat groundstrokes and close out points. With his hard-fought, two-hour, 29-minute 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory, Medvedev captured his 21st tour-level crown. All of Medvedev’s titles have come at different events.

“It is great. I was not super happy with how I played in some moments of the match, but to win feels amazing. In the most important points I played good,” Medvedev said. “The last game was incredible and I am happy to win the title. It continues my funny story of 21 titles in 21 different cities.”

Medvedev also boosted his faint Nitto ATP Finals hopes by winning in Almaty. The former year-end champion is up three spots to 12th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, trailing eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti by 875 points. The Italian is in the final qualification spot.

Medvedev’s title run in Almaty is his latest success under new coaches Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke, having reached semi-finals in Beijing and Shanghai. The 29-year-old started working with both following the US Open, and he holds a 12-3 record since New York, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

Moutet was competing in his third tour-level final and was trying to become the ninth first-time winner in 2025. The Frenchman, who did not drop a set en route to the final, is up five spots to No. 36 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and is set to rise to a career-high on Monday.

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Sinner dominates Alcaraz at lucrative Six Kings Slam

Jannik Sinner claims a commanding victory over rival Carlos Alcaraz to win a reported $6m prize pot at the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Auger-Aliassime sets Lehecka final in Brussels

Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to his fourth ATP Tour final of the season on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open, where he ended the run of Belgian wild card Raphael Collignon in Brussels.

The Canadian was solid throughout his 7-6(2), 6-4 win and has now earned 40 tour-level victories in 2025. Auger-Aliassime’s best year came in 2022, when he recorded 60 victories and qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Aiming to return to the prestigious year-end event this season, the 25-year-old has boosted his hopes with his run in Brussels. Auger-Aliassime is ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin on 3,070 points, trailing eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti by 415 points. The Italian currently occupies the final qualification spot.

Auger-Aliassime struck the ball aggressively off both wings to quiet the vocal Belgian crowd and end the Collignon resistance. He will compete for his eighth tour-level crown and third of the season on Sunday.

“I had a great opponent in front of me and he was inspired by playing at home,” said Auger-Aliassime, who won the ATP 250 event when it was held in Antwerp in 2022. “I knew it could be the toughest challenge of the week so far. He has been playing great for the past few weeks and months. It was really fun to play, high intensity. It was a pleasure to be a part of that and this week and we have one more to go tomorrow.”

Auger-Aliassime will meet Jiri Lehecka in the title match. The Czech reached the championship match at the ATP 250 event for the second year running after defeating big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6(3), 7-6(7) in one hour and 32 minutes.

“It is always tough to prepare for these kinds of matches,” Lehecka said when asked about playing Mpetshi Perricard. “You have to concentrate 100 per cent each point as you don’t know what is coming. He has such a good serve. For me, the most important thing was to stay focused on my service games and wait for the chances.”

Into his sixth tour-level final and third of the season, Lehecka will aim to capture his third title. The 23-year-old, who has lifted trophies on hard courts in Adelaide and Brisbane, has now won 15 of his past 16 matches against players outside the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

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'Devastated' – Rune latest to have season ended prematurely

Holger Rune becomes the latest high-profile tennis player to have his season ended prematurely after suffering an injury at the Nordic Open in Stockholm.

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Schwartzman marries De Martino in Buenos Aires

Diego Schwartzman has begun a new chapter off court. The Argentine, who retired earlier this year, married longtime partner Eugenia De Martino on Thursday in Buenos Aires.

Schwartzman and De Martino started dating in 2019, with Eugenia frequently seen supporting the 33-year-old at tournaments. Schwartzman proposed to De Martino in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris in June 2024.

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The former No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings retired on home soil at the ATP 250 event in Buenos Aires in February. The 33-year-old won four ATP Tour titles and competed at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2020.

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