Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec reached the final of the Open 13 in Marseille on Sunday. As the number three seed of this notable indoor ATP tournament in France, he lost 7-5, 7-6 in the final to Andrey Rublev of Russia, the second seed.
This was the second straight week on the ATP Tour that Auger-Aliassime reached a final. Last week, the 21-year-old phenom beat Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Rotterdam Open.
In Marseille this past week, Auger-Aliassime got a bye to the second round, where he beat French veteran, and 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-6, 6-2. Tsonga qualified for the Open 13 in Marseille as a wildcard. Then in the quarterfinals, Auger-Aliassime beat the fifth seed, Ilya Ivashka of Belarus, 6-3, 6-4. That was followed by a 7-6, 7-6 win over Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the semifinals.
One reason why Auger-Aliassime struggled in the final a little bit more against Rublev than he did a week ago against Tsitsipas came down to his serve. In the Rotterdam Open, Auger-Alassime had zero double faults. In the Open 13 Final, Auger-Aliassime had four double faults.
Auger-Aliassime was supposed to play this week in Dubai. However, he has withdrawn from the tournament due to a back injury.
