Montpellier Open: Auger-Aliassime passes tough Cazaux test to reach quarter-finals

Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No 3 seed, moved into the quarter-finals of the Montpellier Open by edging out Frenchman Arthur Cazaux 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (4) at the Sud de France Arena.

The Canadian was pushed to the limit by an excellent performance from the talented young Frenchman, who is coming into Montpellier off the back of an eye-catching run to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Auger-Aliassime, trying to build up some much-needed form and momentum after a difficult 2023, clinched the opener 7-5 after a competitive set of high quality.

But the 21-year-old Cazaux struck back in the second, with his dynamic game causing the Canadian real problems on serve. The Frenchman took the second comfortably in the end to level up the match at one set apiece.

The third was, again, a close affair, with Auger-Aliassime just having the physical edge in the deciding tiebreak to earn a hard-fought win in a match that went the distance.

Auger-Aliassime reward will be another match against a home player as he takes on French wildcard Harold Mayot next.

In the previous round of the Montpellier tournament, Cazaux, ranked No 83, won against German Maximilian Marterer (6-1, 6-3).

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Montpellier ATP 250, other second-round results (Sud de France Arena, hard, EUR 579.320, most recent results first):

• Holger Rune vs. Pablo Llamas Ruiz
• Flavio Cobolli beat Constant Lestienne: 6-4, 6-1
• Borna Coric (4) beat Pedro Martinez: 6-4, 6-0
• Alexander Shevchenko (6) beat Gregoire Barrere: 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3
• Alexander Bublik (2) beat Denis Shapovalov: 1-6, 7-6 (12), 6-3
• Harold Mayot beat Benoit Paire: 6-1, 6-4
• Michael Mmoh beat Alexandre Muller (7): 6-4, 6-4