Auger-Aliassime scrapes past Ymer, boosts hopes of securing ATP Finals spot

Red-hot Felix Auger-Aliassime recovered from a set and 4-1 down to beat Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (6) to reach the last 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday.

The Canadian trailed 4-1 in the second set but hit back brilliantly to extend his winning streak to 14 matches, having won three tournaments in three weeks, Florence, Antwerp and Basel.

Auger-Aliassime has held in 93 straight service games on the ATP Tour. Ymer broke him at his eight attempt, at 7-6, 2-1 for the Swede. The Canadian would lose his serve three times at the end of the match.

The victory takes Auger-Aliassime closer to securing a place in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin. He’ll play either Taylor Fritz, who could yet edge him out for Turin, or Frenchman Gilles Simon in the next round.

Anyway the Canadian will qualify as soon as Wednesday if Fritz falls to Gilles Simon, who is playing the last tournament of his career.

“I was very worn out, not feeling great physically but somehow I found a second wind,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was pretty epic, three hours 30, definitely a win to remember.”

In the previous round, Ymer, ranked No 74, edged out Kazakh Alexander Bublik (6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-4).

Paris Masters 1000, other second-round results (Accor Arena, EUR 5.415.410, most recent results first):

• Corentin Moutet vs. Cameron Norrie: wednesday in Paris
• Tommy Paul vs. Rafael Nadal: wednesday in Paris
• Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Denis Shapovalov: wednesday in Paris
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Holger Rune: wednesday in Paris
• Taylor Fritz vs. Gilles Simon: wednesday in Paris
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Fabio Fognini: wednesday in Paris
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Yoshihito Nishioka: wednesday in Paris
• Alex de Minaur vs. Daniil Medvedev (3): 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Daniel Evans: 6-3, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti beat Nikoloz Basilashvili: 6-4, 6-2
• Frances Tiafoe beat Jack Draper: 6-3, 7-5
• Karen Khachanov beat Marc-Andrea Huesler (Q): 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
• Casper Ruud (3) beat Richard Gasquet (WC): 6-1, 7-6 (7)
• Novak Djokovic (6) beat Maxime Cressy: 7-6 (1), 6-4
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat John Isner: 6-2, 6-3

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