Tsitsipas Goes Back-To-Back In Marseille

Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed back-to-back titles at an ATP Tour event for the first time on Sunday, beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 to lift his second Open 13 Provence trophy in Marseille.

Tsitsipas broke serve on three occasions and saved four of five break points to take the title in 86 minutes. After losing his opening two ATP Head2Head encounters against Auger-Aliassime, Tsitsipas adds to his victory against the Canadian at last year’s Rolex Shanghai Masters to level their rivalry at 2-2.

This is the second straight year that Tsitsipas has lifted the Marseille trophy without dropping a set. The 21-year-old lost in the first round in his first two appearances at the tournament, but has now won eight straight matches in Marseille. Tsitsipas is the first man since Thomas Enqvist in 1998 to win back-to-back Marseille crowns.

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Tsitsipas improves to 5-5 in ATP Tour championship matches. The 6’4” right-hander has won four of his five tour-level events on indoor hard courts.

Tsitsipas earned an early service break in his first final of the year, striking with depth on his groundstrokes at 2-1 to rush Auger-Aliassime into multiple forehand errors. After saving three break points at 5-3, the Greek served with power and ripped a forehand into his opponent’s forehand corner to convert his first set point.

With pinpoint passing shots, Tsitsipas claimed the first break of the second set at 2-2. Despite dropping serve in the following game, the World No. 6 quickly regained his advantage. Tsitsipas outmanoeuvred his opponent in multiple net exchanges and extracted backhand errors to earn a 4-3 lead. The defending champion converted his first championship point as Auger-Aliassime struck a forehand beyond the baseline.

Auger-Aliassime was aiming to capture his first trophy in five ATP Tour finals. The 19-year-old, who also finished as runner-up in Rotterdam last week, saved match points in his opening two matches en route to the final in Marseille.

Tsitsipas collects 250 FedEx ATP Ranking points and receives €116,030 in prize money. Auger-Aliassime gains 150 ATP Ranking points and earns €64,225.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/37StMOa