For the first time, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec, has won a ATP tournament. On Sunday, he won the 2022 Rotterdam Open, where he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 6-2.
Auger-Aliassime was seeded third in the tournament, while Tsitsipas was seeded first. En route to the final, Auger-Aliassime defeated Belarussian qualifier Egor Gerasimov 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round, three-time major champion Andy Murray of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4 in the second round, sixth seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, 7-5, 7-6 in the quarterfinals, and second seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals. Murray’s major titles came at the U.S. Open in 2012, and Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016.
This was Auger-Aliassime’s third career win over Tsitsipas. He previously beat him in the second round of Indian Wells in 2019, 6-4, 6-2, and the quarterfinals of the Queen’s Club in 2019, 7-5, 6-2.
In Sunday’s final, Auger-Aliassime broke Tsitsipas three times. Tsitsipas meanwhile never had a break point opportunity through the entire match. Auger-Aliassime also won 93% of his first serve points and had seven aces, compared to only one for Tsitsipas. The most significant statistic in Auger-Aliassime’s win over Tsitsipas is the fact he had zero double faults.
Auger-Aliassime had reached eight prior finals on the ATP Tour, but was never victorious. One of those losses came in Rotterdam in 2020, as he was beaten by Gael Monfils of France, 6-2, 6-4.
This was also the second final on the ATP Tour where Auger-Aliassime played Tsitsipas. In Marseille in 2020, Tsitsipas won 6-3. 6-4.
