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 WouwPIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/Reuters
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.”
Auger-Aliassime also thanked the crowd. “I have a lot of good memories playing here in front of you, so thank you for making it a special week for me that I will remember for the rest of my life. It is the happiest day of my career and hopefully it is the first of many to come.”
The third-seeded Auger-Aliassime hit seven aces and won 93 per cent of his first serve points, compared with 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.
It was second time lucky for Auger-Aliassime in Rotterdam after losing the 2020 final to Gaël Monfils. Auger-Aliassime fell in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open but started the season helping Canada win the ATP Cup in Sydney.
The Associate Press with a report from Reuters