Andrey Rublev stops Felix Auger-Aliassime in Marseille, wins ninth career title

Andrey Rublev weathered a late surge from Felix Auger-Aliassime in Marseille, holding off the streaking Canadian to win his ninth career title, 7-5, 7-6(4), in Sunday’s Open 13 final.

The Russian looked to be headed to an uncomplicated triumph, leading 7-5, 5-3 in the second set, but Auger-Aliassime hit a purple patch and reeled off nine consecutive points to regain a foothold in the set. Eventually the Canadian forced a second-set tiebreak, but he could not deny the Russian – Rublev raced out to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak and held serve at the finish, taking the final two points to complete his victory in one hour and 56 minutes.

Rublev was relieved – and proud – to have defeated Auger-Aliassime, a player that entered the match on an eight-match winning streak which included a victory over Rublev in last week’s semi-final at Rotterdam.

“Now he’s one of the greatest tennis players, especially last season and the beginning of this season,” Rublev told the crowd after the match. “He is doing better than most of the players and he is on top now – it’s a pleasure to share the court with him.”

Matching levels with surging Auger-Aliassime

Rublev said he was able to raise his level late in the second set in order to avoid playing a decider. The Russian wins his first title in over a year (since Rotterdam 2021) and notches his first top-10 win since last August (over Alexander Zverev at Cincinnati).

The 24-year-old jumps to 9-2 on the season.

“I had to increase [my level] because otherwise I had no chance against Felix,” Rublev said. “At 5-4 [in the second set] he started to play even better, I was thinking that it’s going to be third set already but somehow I was able also to raise a bit my level.”

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