Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the final of the Paris Masters tennis tournament on Saturday with a straight-sets victory over Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime won 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the semifinals over 13th-seeded Bublik.
The Canadian waited for the winner of a later semi-final between second seed Jannik Sinner of Italy and third seed Alexander Zverev of Germany to get to know his Sunday opponent.
With the semi-final victory, Auger-Aliassime leapfrogged Italian Lorenzo Musetti into the eighth and final qualifying spot for next month’s ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, Auger-Aliassime would take a 90-point lead over Musetti into next week’s Moselle Open in Metz, France. Musetti will play in Athens next week.
Auger-Aliassime has won titles in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels this year. The 25-year-old is attempting for his ninth career title and first at Masters level.
The ninth seed in Paris defeated Bublik in 96 minutes on Saturday.
“A Masters 1000 final sounds very good,” said Auger-Aliassime at La Défense Arena. “You don’t play those finals every week. Hopefully I can go all out and win the title.”
Auger-Aliassime fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set on Saturday. He hit 31 winners in the match, including 17 with his forehand, and converted three of the four break points he earned.
Bublik started the second set strongly, but ended it by losing five consecutive games and hitting his racket on the ground after one of them.
Auger-Aliassime served for the match and started with his 12th ace. A forehand winner at the net gave him a first match point and he took it with another big forehand. Auger-Aliassime patted his heart and waved to the crowd.
“I know what I can do against the best players in the world, but you still have to execute,” he said.
– With files from The Associated Press
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