By Canadian Press

Auger-Aliassime beats French veteran Simon, advances to Paris quarterfinals

Nov 3, 2022 | 11:05 AM

PARIS — Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters tennis tournament and increased his winning streak to 15 matches with a 6-1, 6-3 win over French wild-card Gilles Simon on Thursday.

Auger-Aliassime, seeking his fourth straight tournament win, took control of the match early. He had seven aces and broke Simon twice on five chances while not facing break point himself in a dominant first set.

After the eight-seeded Auger-Aliassime and Simon traded holds early in the second set, the 22-year-old Canadian won four straight games to clinch the match. He ended the one-hour, 33-minute showdown with his fourth break on seven chances.

The victory came a day after Simon helped Auger-Aliassime qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals for the first time.

Simon’s upset win over Taylor Fritz in the tournament’s second round meant the American could not catch Auger-Aliassime in the race for one of the two remaining spots in the elite tennis showcase.

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Fritz’s loss, coupled with Holger Rune’s win over Hubert Hurkacz in the second round, clinched the final two spots in the Finals for Auger-Aliassime and Russia’s Andrey Rublev.

The 37-year-old Simon, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in 2009, has said he will retire after the Paris Masters.

Auger-Aliassime will next face 16th-seed American Frances Tiafoe in the Paris quarterfinals. The Canadian has won both previous meetings with Tiafoe, including a victory on clay earlier this year at the Barcelona Open.

Auger-Aliassime entered the tournament on the heels of three straight titles: ATP 250 tournament wins in Florence, Italy, and Antwerp, Belgium, and the ATP 500 win in Basel.

He is seeking his first Masters-level title in Paris.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2022.

The Canadian Press