Felix Auger-Aliassime has extended his winning run on the Tour to eight matches after defeating Sebastian Korda in straight sets to win the European Open in Antwerp.
Auger-Aliassime didn’t drop serve throughout his 6-3, 6-4, victory over the American to claim his second title in as many weeks. Last week he defeated JJ Wolf to win the Florence Open.
In his latest match, the world No.10 broke once in each set as he won 85% of his first service points. The triumph avenged his loss against Korda earlier this year when they clashed on clay at the Estoril Open. He now leads their head-to-head 2-1.
“It’s amazing to win back-to-back tournaments and to win for the first time here in Antwerp, especially against Sebi (Korda) who is a fantastic player,” he said during his on-court interview.
“It has been a tough week. I have played many tough matches, so to push through today and win was amazing.’
“I’m just super thrilled and happy to get another title.”
Auger-Aliassime is the seventh player this year to have won three or more trophies on the ATP Tour. He has won 19 ATP matches indoors which is more than any other player in 2022.
As for Korda, the 22-year-old fought until the end despite experiencing pain in his right shoulder region. After the conclusion of the first set, he requested a medical timeout and took some painkillers to deal with the issue. Korda, who was playing in his fourth Tour final, is now 3-8 against top 10 players in his career.
“I want to congratulate Felix on an incredible last two weeks, especially your team. You guys are all very hard-working and nice to me and my team,” said Korda.
“Back-to-back finals for me was a great achievement. Unfortunately, we (my team) couldn’t get it done today but we will be back in the coming weeks and hopefully can go one step further.”
Auger-Aliassime’s latest triumph has boosted his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin next month. He is currently in seventh place with a 340-point lead over Taylor Fritz. Only eight players will qualify for the event but 10th place Novak Djokovic has already secured a spot under the Grand Slam provision rule.
There will be little time for the Canadian to celebrate. He will next travel to Basel to play at the Swiss Indoors where he is the third seed in the draw. In his opening match, he will take on home player Marc-Andrea Huesler.
