Tennis - ATP 500 - Rotterdam Open - Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands - February 13, 2022 Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime poses with the trophy as he celebrates after winning the final against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
Félix Auger-Aliassime won his first career title at the ninth attempt, upsetting top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in the Rotterdam final on Sunday to deny his opponent an eighth title.
Victory at the indoor tournament came as a relief for the 21-year-old Canadian after losing his previous eight finals dating back to 2019.
“It has not been the smoothest road since my first final,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It is an amazing day for me to get my first title and especially here. I played my first ATP main draw here a couple of years ago, so it is right I won my first title here.”
The third-seeded Auger-Aliassime hit seven aces and won 93 per cent of his first serve points, compared to just one ace for Tsitsipas.
The big-serving Greek was unusually poor on his serve with four double-faults and only 31 of 55 first serves landing in. His second serve let him down, too, and he won only 33 per cent of points on it.
It was Auger-Aliassime’s third win in eight matches against Tsitsipas, and he did not face a break point in a dominant performance where he broke Tsitsipas three times.
“He was playing very good tennis, producing good shots and serving incredibly well throughout the match. I wasn’t able to respond,” Tsitsipas said. “I wasn’t able to respond. I wasn’t able to serve well today and my percentages were so low.”
The 23-year-old Tsitsipas dropped to 7-11 in finals.
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