16 year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime has continued to stun the tennis world this week by cruising into the final of the Lyon Challenger.
The Canadian defeated the in-form Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-0, 6-3 to move into his first career Challenger final. The win came just a day after Auger Aliassime outlasted clay specialist Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the quarter-finals. He adds Nedovyesov to the list of players he has beaten this week that includes Ruud, Nicolas Jarry, and Laurynas Grigelis.
Nedovyesov had been in good form this week. The Kazakh had shocked second seed Marcel Granollers in the first round, and fifth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu in the quarter-finals. Those excellent results ultimately counted for little in the semi-finals, as he was swept aside by Auger Aliassime in just 1hr and 18mins.
Auger-Aliassime could join the list of the Top 10 youngest ever winners of Challenger tournaments. The current record holder is Michael Chang who won the Las Vegas event in 1987 aged 15. Others who would sit above Auger Aliassime on the list should the Canadian win include Richard Gasquet, Rafael Nadal, and Bernard Tomic. Auger Aliassime would be the youngest winner since Bernard Tomic won the Melbourne Challenger in 2009.
Auger Aliassime will face Frenchman Mathias Bourgue in the final. Bourgue is unseeded. He has also remarkably not faced a seed in the draw so far. Arthur de Greef, Henri Laaksonen and top seed Horacio Zeballos had all been removed from his path before they could meet. Bourgue has defeated fellow Frenchman since the second round. He beat Maxime Janvier, Maxime Chazal, and Tristan Lamasine between the second round and the semi-finals. Bourgue also remained perfect in his first round match against Jose Hernandez-Fernandez, and has not dropped a set in the tournament so far.
