Felix Auger-Aliassime had to work really hard to overcome native player Arthur Cazaux at the 2024 Montpellier Open, but he did it, and he did it heroically.
This match was always going to be a complicated one for Auger-Alaissime because he was facing a very good player who recently bested Holger Rune at the Australian Open. Playing on French soil only made it more complicated for the Canadian, but he probably didn’t expect it to be this complicated.
Auger-Aliassime lost his serve first, giving Cazaux a lead in the opening set, but he would battle back to make it a tie and then break his opponent late to win the opening set 7-5.
That good play didn’t persist in the second set as Cazaux found some solutions to take a break and then cruise after that. Auger-Aliassime was struggling physically, seemingly vomiting into a trash can at one point in the match, but he opted to continue the match, and ultimately, he wouldn’t regret it.
The second-set regression persisted in the opening stages of the final set. The Frenchman took an early 2-0 lead in the final set as Auger-Aliassime struggled, but the Canadian would break back and make it 2-2.
The French player took the lead once more, 5-3, and the match seemingly looked over. When it was time to close it out, he failed as Auger-Aliassime made it 5-5. The Canadian would work his way to a match point at 6-5 but didn’t use it, so the third set ended up in a tiebreak.
It was a pretty close one, but the Canadian was able to outplay his opponent for much of it, taking a 4-1 lead. That would be enough for him to hold that lead and eventually win the match, with the final score being 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(4). It was a very good and needed win for Auger-Aliassime, who moved into the quarterfinal, where he’ll take on another Frenchman, Harold Mayot.
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