Felix Auger Aliassime held on in an up-and-down third set to overcome Arthur Cazaux to progress to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Open Sud de France season in Montpellier.
The third seed lost her serve early in the third set with three double fouls and was then forced to come back from behind with the opportunity to break for the second time before beating the host player, Cazaux 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 in the second round. Open Sud de France.
“It was an incredible match,” exclaimed Auger Aliassime. “Arthur performed well and he served and played admirably when he needed to. I played an impressive game, then he raised the level of the game. He played a stunning game to break me in the second set.”
READ ALSO : Zhu Lin has a chance to defend his title in Hua Hin
“I had to stay calm and just find a way to stay in the game and give myself a chance. You have to stay focused, calm, and not let your emotions get the best of you. I think I did well this time.”
The Canadian tennis player is still continuing to build his performance after undergoing knee surgery at the end of last season. He advanced to the third round at the 2024 Australian Open and has now advanced to his first quarter-final since last season in Basel.
For a place in the semifinals of the Open Sud de France, Felix Auger Aliassime will challenge the host tennis player, Harold Mayot.
In other action, Croatian tennis player Borna Coric put in a strong performance, including firing eight aces and saving all four break point opportunities he faced, when he crushed Spanish national Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-0.
“He played really well and I couldn’t find my rhythm, but my good serve helped me survive the first set and I was honestly a bit lucky. “After that, I started to feel better and played better,” said Coric, who this week made his fourth appearance in Montpellier.
In the quarter-finals, the fourth seed, Coric, will face the Italian tennis player, Flavio Cobolli.
Meanwhile, the Kazakh national, Alexnder Shevchenko, fought as hard as he could to defeat the host tennis player, Gregoire Barrere, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 and booked a third round match against his compatriot, Alexander Bublik.
The first seed, Holger Rune, also qualified for the quarter-finals thanks to a 7-5, 6-2 victory over the Spaniard, Pablo Llamas Ruiz and will be the opponent of the American, Michael Mmoh.
