Felix & Hurkacz Save 5 M.P. To Lift Paris Trophy

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz saved five championship points on Sunday to capture their first team title at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The unseeded pair recovered from the brink of defeat to upset second seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares 6-7(3), 7-6(7), 10-2 in one hour and 52 minutes. Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz faced championship point at 5-6, deciding point in the second set and rallied from 3/6 and 6/7 down in the second-set tie-break en route to victory.

”It is huge [to win this title]. Felix played unbelievable,” said Hurkacz in an on-court interview. “Bruno and Mate are great doubles players and they played unreal. We had no chances throughout the sets. We kept ourselves in the tie-breaks and we are so happy to win.”

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Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz were competing for just the second time as a team in Paris this week. The Canadian-Polish tandem, which owns a 6-1 team record, reached the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament quarter-finals on its team debut in February.

”We didn’t expect before this week that we were going to play on Sunday,” said Hurkacz. “[I am] a bit surprised, but happy to finish the season like this.”

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz defeated four seeded teams en route to their first doubles trophy. Prior to their win against Pavic and Soares, the Top 40 singles stars also beat top seeds Robert Farah and Horacio Zeballos in the second round, seventh seeds John Peers and Michael Venus in the quarter-finals and Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the semi-finals.

”I enjoy my time with him and I have to say Hubert is a really nice person and he has a really good heart,” said Auger-Aliassime in an on-court interview. “He gives everything out there, he has fun and he is always smiling. It is a joy to play with him and be around him. We have known each other since we were juniors a little bit… This was so unexpected. We started with a great match and just kept playing better and better… Everything went on our side this week.”

Pavic and Soares were attempting to capture their second ATP Masters 1000 title as a team. Last year’s Shanghai titlists did not drop a set en route to the championship match. Pavic and Soares will now travel to London to compete as the top seeds at the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz earn 1000 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and share €91,665 in prize money. Pavic and Soares collect 600 points and split €69,000.

Did You Know?
Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz are the first team ranked in the Top 50 in singles to win the Paris doubles title since Frenchmen Nicolas Escude (No. 41) and Fabrice Santoro (No. 35) in 2002.

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