Felix Auger Aliassime battled past Maxime Cressy 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8) at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam.
Auger Aliassime hit 18 aces but he made more double faults than Cressy (4-3). Cressy made 14 unforced errors, while Auger Aliassime finished the match with 12. The Canadian player won 75% of his first serve points and had more winners than Cressy (39-33).
Cressy saved three break points in the third game of the first set. Auger Aliassime fended off a break point in the sixth game to hold serve for 3-3. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Auger Aliassime raced out to a 4-0 lead with two mini-breaks in the tie-break. Cressy pulled one mini-break on the sixth point to claw his way back to 2-4. Auger Aliassime earned his third mini-break to win the tie-break 7-3.
The second set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Cressy earned a mini-break twice in the tie-break, but Cressy pulled back on serve and earned three set points, but Felix Auger Aliassime saved them and won the final three points from 7-8 down to win a thrilling second set tie-break by the scoreline of 10-8.“The margins were very small and I had luck on my side in the end. To hit a shank lob to set up match point was quite crazy, but I gave myself opportunities and you create your own luck in a way”, said Felix Auger Aliassime.
