Felix Auger-Aliassime converts 6th MP in Dubai opener, Stan Wawrinka wins | ATP tour | Tennis

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Auger-Aliassime converts 6th MP in Dubai opener, Wawrinka wins

Top seed down Zhang, sets R2 vs. Mpetshi Perricard at ATP 500 event
February 23, 2026

Felix Auger-Aliassime is back at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships determined to go one step further than last year. The best player started his 2026 season confidently on Monday, despite needing six match points to cross the line.

The No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings advanced past Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-(4) to launch his title bid at the ATP 500 event. Twelve months ago, Auger-Aliassime advanced to the Dubai final before falling to an inspired Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the Canadian is once again among the favourites.

“I stopped counting at one point, it became too frustrating,” Auger-Aliassime said of the missed match points. “Having match points is the position you want to be in as a player, but it’s strange how the mind plays tricks on you. No matter how much further away I am from losing than him, he should be the one tight. But I said to myself, ‘If there’s a third set, I’ll be there’.”

Since withdrawing from his first-round clash with Nuno Borges at the Australian Open in January, Auger-Aliassime has rediscovered some of his best form. He has won nine of his past 10 matches, lifting the trophy in Montpellier before finishing second in Rotterdam.

With his speed and smart coverage on the court, Auger-Aliassime saved all four break points he faced against Zhang, according to Infosys ATP Stats. The 25-year-old then missed two match points on the return at 5-4 and three at 6-5 in the second set, but produced a clinical response in the tiebreak.

Auger-Aliassime will enter an event above the ATP 250 level as the top seed for the first time and will next face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who previously broke his five-match losing streak at tour level. The big-shot French qualifier defeated Tunisian wildcard Moez Echargui 7-6(3), 6-7(3), 7-6(4) to earn his first win since reaching the quarter-finals in Auckland in January.

In other action on Monday, 2016 Dubai winner Stan Wawrinka recorded his sixth consecutive opening round win by beating Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 6-3. Roger Federer, eight-time record champion of the tournament, was there to watch his compatriot.

With the win, Wawrinka also improved to 10 tour-level wins since turning 40 – the most of any player in that age group in the Open Era. The Swiss will next face third seed and 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev or Shang Juncheng.