It was a tale of two very different champions at the two ATP 500 tournaments this past week. Jannik Sinner has been in amazing form all year long. It has been a rough season from start to finish, however, for Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Both emerged triumphant on Sunday.
At the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Jannik Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-3 in a thrilling final that lasted three hours and five minutes.
“It took a lot of mental and physical stuff,” the Italian said. “I think we both served very well the first set. I managed somehow to get back on serve when he was a break up, because I felt like he was serving really good. I found a way in the first set.
“(In the) second set I felt like he was trying to get into the rally a little bit more and I was hustling a little bit. In the third set I tried to step up a little bit. I had a lot of break points; I couldn’t use them and then at the end I used them, so I’m very happy. Obviously to finish the match, it was really a mental thing, but I’m very happy about how I managed today and very happy for another title.”
Nobody could have been happier about last week’s results than Auger-Aliassime. “Relief” is probably an even more appropriate word to describe the Canadian’s emotions.
Auger-Aliassime was the defending champion of the Swiss Indoors Basel, but he certainly wasn’t expected to repeat when the week–and even the final–began. The 23-year-old had been 5-12 in his last 17 matches prior to arriving in Basel and had fallen to 19th in the rankings. From pretty much out of nowhere, though, Auger-Aliassime made a successful run to another title and capped it off with a 7-6(3), 7-6(5) upset of Hubert Hurkacz.
Despite the competitive scoreline, the No. 8 seed pretty much dominated from start to finish. He did not face a single break point while earning five on Hurkacz’s serve. Auger-Aliassime won 88 total points to Hurkacz’s 70.
“I’m definitely back,” he noted. “I let my racquet talk. That’s always been the motto of my career. I’ve had the conviction that I can be a top player since I’m a kid, but there were many doubts this year about my performances and why. I’m happy that I was able to prove to everybody that I still belong among the best players in the world, that I can play this level. I never doubted it, but it’s good to confirm it on the court.”
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.