via Reuters
Tennis – ATP 500 – Rotterdam Open – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands – February 13, 2022 Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas during the final against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
via Reuters
Tennis – ATP 500 – Rotterdam Open – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands – February 13, 2022 Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas during the final against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
The stakes are high when two exciting stars – Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime took to the center court at the ATP Rotterdam final on Sunday. Both the players are yet to win an ATP 500 title in their careers. While Tsitsipas achieved success on Masters 1000 events, he hasn’t been exceptionally successful in the finals of 500 events.
Felix, on the other hand, has been unlucky when it comes to championship matches. An all-around player who can dismantle the opponent with his exceptional serve and forehand, the Canadian often found it hard to live up to the expectations when it comes to playing finals.
Winning the title in Rotterdam would be special for both Felix and Tsitsipas. Let’s see how the match progressed.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime comes up with a solid performance to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets
The Greek star hasn’t been in an exceptional form as of late, ever since he made a comeback after the elbow surgery in late November last year. Even though he played a flawless match against Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open, it turned out to be a one-off encounter. The same thing happened today in Rotterdam as he couldn’t find the extra gear to cause any sort of trouble to Felix Auger-Aliassime.
via Reuters
Tennis – ATP 500 – Rotterdam Open – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands – February 13, 2022 Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime pose for a photograph ahead of their final REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
Felix was able to break the Greek‘s serve and went on to clinch the first set, 6-4. The second set was where Tsitsipas fell flat as he lost his first service game and failed to apply any pressure on the immediate return game.
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As a result, the Canadian got a comfortable lead of 3-0 in the second and was just three games away from winning his first-ever ATP title. Despite Tsitsipas applying pressure in subsequent return games, it didn’t have a huge impact as Felix became completely confident about his serve as he closed out the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
It was a special moment for Felix Auger-Aliassime as he has been waiting to get his hands on an ATP title for so long and this victory will propel the Canadian to win more on the men’s tour this season.
Félix Auger-Aliassime in ATP singles finals:
❌ Rio 2019
❌ Lyon 2019
❌ Stuttgart 2019
❌ Rotterdam 2020
❌ Marseille 2020
❌ Cologne 2020
❌ Melbourne 2021
❌ Stuttgart 2021
✅ Rotterdam 2022— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) February 13, 2022
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Since the start of 2019, Felix has reached nine ATP finals(including Rotterdam) and became victorious at last. The Canadian has proved to the world already that he has abundant talent, and this win will definitely add to the confidence of the youngster.
First title and it feels so good.
Take a bow, @felixtennis 👏pic.twitter.com/3C1YVgnAsn
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) February 13, 2022
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Over the past few years, Felix remained extremely patient and focused more on his game, as he believed that it would lead him to an ATP title one day.
