Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec is in the final of the 2019 Lyon Open, the final clay court tuneup for the men prior to the 2019 French Open. Auger-Aliassime, who is the fourth seed, will be facing Benoit Paire of France in the final on Saturday.
Auger-Aliassime received a bye to the second round, where he beat John Millman of Australia, 7-6, 7-5. He then beat Steve Johnson of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals before beating the number one seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the semifinal.
This will be the first time ever that Auger-Aliassime will have played Paire on the ATP Tour. The fans will be pro-Paire, not just because he is unseeded, but because he is also from France as he was born in Avignon.
Auger-Aliassime will be trying to win his first singles title on the ATP Tour. He reached the final of the 2019 Rio Open in Brazil before losing to Laslo Djere of Serbia 6-3, 7-5. Like the Rio Open, the Lyon Open is on clay.
Auger-Aliassime was one of three Canadians to record a victory at the Lyon Open. Steven Diez of Toronto, Ontario beat Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-4, 4-1 in the first round, while Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario beat Ugo Humbert of France 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 in the second round. Diez then lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, while Shapovalov lost to Paire.
