The third seed, who was competing in his ninth tour-level final, comfortably got past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in 78 minutes.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime clinched his maiden ATP Tour title at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament on the back of a straight sets victory. The third seed, who was competing in his ninth tour-level final, comfortably got past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 in 78 minutes to win in Rotterdam. After narrowly surviving Andrey Rublev in three sets to reach the championship match at the ATP 500 event, Auger-Aliassime put up a dominant performance from the start against the Greek star. Before the final against Tsitsipas, the Canadian sensation held an unfortunate 0-8 record in tour-level finals. Infact, he had not won a set in any of those matches.
“It has not been the smoothest road since my first final three years ago,” Auger-Aliassime said during the trophy ceremony. “It is an amazing day for me to get my first title and especially here. I played my first ATP main draw here a couple of years ago, so it is right I won my first title here.”
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Auger-Aliassime has now reduced his ATP Head2Head deficit against Tsitsipas to 3-5. On the back of this win, Auger-Aliassime has also gained revenge for his defeat to Tsitsipas in the final in Marseille, 2020. Notably, this was the second time the Canadian had competed in the championship match in Rotterdam. He had lost to Gael Monfils in 2020.
“I have a lot of good memories playing here in front of you, so thank you for making it a special week for me that I will remember for the rest of my life,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It is the happiest day of my career and hopefully it is the first of many to come.”
On the other hand, Tsitsipas said, “He played a really good match, producing really good shots and serving well the whole match. I wasn’t able to serve well at all today. He played very well.”
Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop survived Lloyd Harris and Tim Puetz’s challenge 4-6, 7-6, 10-5 to clinch their fourth tour-level title as a team on Sunday at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. The Dutchmen, playing on home soil in Rotterdam, stepped up at the pivotal moments to triumph after one hour and 33 minutes.
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“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Haase said during the post-match press conference. “I think we won three titles before this one and those were all 250s, now a 500 which is more special and at home which makes it even more special. [It is] just fantastic and I think I can speak for both of us that we are extremely happy.”
“The fact that we already had such a good run in 2018 and this year we did it again, plus the fact that we beat some top teams, it feels really amazing,” Middelkoop added. “And the fact that we are also did it in Rotterdam, which is a home tournament for us is super special. I was a ball boy here and now being a trophy holder, and being on the billboards is something very special. I will never forget this moment ever.”
