A powerful serve and unwavering patience propelled Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime to his second ATP title of the season. The second-seeded Montreal native outlasted Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-2, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2) in a gripping final at the Open Occitanie on Sunday.
Auger-Aliassime fired 19 aces and secured 78% of his first-serve points in the ATP 250 event, which lasted two hours and 39 minutes. His ability to stay composed under pressure proved crucial, especially in the deciding tiebreak.
“I think my serve was huge today to stay in the match, stay close to him in the score and then try my best in the tiebreak,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I lost one and won one, just glad it went my way.”
He also credited Kovacevic’s improved serve for the American’s resilience in the second and third sets.
“His quality of serving improved,” Auger-Aliassime noted. “I felt in the first set he was going for shots that weren’t easy and wasn’t making them as much. But in the second and third sets, he started making those. He did really well, so I just had to wait for my moment where I could reverse that tendency.”
Patience and mental toughness played a key role in the Canadian’s victory. Despite missing a match point in the second set due to a precise passing shot from Kovacevic, Auger-Aliassime remained focused.
“I was a little unlucky but also credit to him, he hit a great passing shot on the line when I had match point in the second set,” he said. “It could’ve easily gone out, but it didn’t, and that’s when you’re really tested mentally. You have to try and focus on what you can control and respond to this challenge the best way possible and not beat yourself.”
Converting two of three break points, Auger-Aliassime clinched his second title of 2025 and the seventh of his career. He previously won the Adelaide International in January and now boasts a 10-2 record for the season.
Source: Swifteradio.com
