Félix Auger-Aliassime knows his way around tiebreakers and proved this again at a tournament he likes, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, by defeating Maxime Cressy in the first round.
The Quebecer won his first career tournament at this event in 2022 after being defeated in the final two years earlier. His debut against the American went well, winning in straight sets 7-6(7) and 7-6(10).
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There were no breaks in this hard-fought game, as both players are used to. Auger-Aliassime needed 71 minutes to win the first set. In the second tiebreak he fended off two set points brilliantly.
There was no lack of options for the “FAA”, which was unable to use its five break points. The Montrealer was more dominant on serve, mainly due to his 18 aces, and only offered the 170th player in the world one break opportunity.
The duels between the two men have always been close. Auger-Aliassime won in three sets at Dubai 2023, but in their first meeting at Wimbledon last year, Cressy triumphed in four sets, three of which required a tiebreaker.
Coming out of qualifying in Rotterdam, Cressy was already at the limit with the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech and the Spaniard Pablo Llamas Ruiz. Rested, his 23-year-old opponent took advantage of the opportunity and will face the winner of the game between second-placed Andrey Rublev and Zizou Bergs in the next round.
Earlier in the day, Canada's Milos Raonic also reached the round of 16 by defeating Jesper de Jong in straight sets. After Denis Shapovalov qualified, he will play his first main draw game against Gaël Monfils on Wednesday.