Felix Auger-Aliassime heads into Australian Open by winning Adelaide title

A few days before the start of the new year, Félix Auger-Aliassime came from behind and defeated American Taylor Fritz in a United Cup group stage match in Perth, Australia. This triumph against the fourth-ranked player in the world seems to have given him wings a few hours before the start of the first Grand Slam tournament in 2025 in Melbourne.

The 24-year-old Montrealer collected the sixth title of his career on the ATP circuit on Saturday, thanks to a victory in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 against American Sebastian Korda in the final of the Adelaide International Tournament.

Auger-Aliassime ended a drought of just over 14 months since defeating Hubert Hurkacz in the final of the Basel Indoor Tournament on October 29, 2023. This is also his first triumph in an outdoor tournament and a third in four duels against the 24-year-old American.

Also, in quick succession, Auger-Aliassime took the measure of the first two seeds of the competition. On Friday, he beat the American Tommy Paul, the 12th-ranked player in the world and tournament favourite, in three sets, before beating Korda, the second seed.

On his way to the final, Auger-Aliassime also defeated Frenchman Arthur Cazaux and Marcos Giron, another player from the United States.

“The feeling is wonderful, any title is wonderful,” said Auger-Aliassime, who has an immaculate 8-0 record against Americans since the start of 2024, according to ATP statistics.

“I had my share of struggles winning titles early in my career, and now every title means a lot. Showing that I can play well on other surfaces, reaching this milestone and winning a first outdoor title, it’s great,” added Auger-Aliassime, in a post-match interview.

Against Korda, Auger-Aliassime was imperial in the third set.

Powered by a parallel forehand winner on the previous point, Auger-Aliassime broke the serve of the 22nd-ranked player in the world in the second game of the decisive set to give himself a 2-0 lead. He added a break in the sixth game to build a 5-1 cushion.

Above all, Auger-Aliassime was uncompromising in his service during this third set, conceding only one point to Korda. He placed 82 per cent of his first balls in play – compared to 50 per cent in the first set and 48 per cent in the second – and won 13 points out of 14 after succeeding in his first serves in the last set.

Auger-Aliassime had to overcome a rather difficult start to the match before winning the first set. From the initial game, he had to erase three break points, and a fourth, two games later.

He took the first set lead in the sixth game by breaking Korda’s serve without even losing a single point, giving him a 4-2 lead.

Auger-Aliassime’s only failure in his serve came in the eighth game of the second set. Facing what would be Korda’s last break chance, Auger-Aliassime saw his forehand, coming from behind the baseline, hit the top of the net and end up out of bounds.

In the next game, Auger-Aliassime saved two set points, but not the third, which Korda won with a service winner.

Ranked 29th at the start of the week, Auger-Aliassime will jump six places in the ATP rankings when he plays his first-round match at the Australian Open against German Jan-Lennard Struff scheduled for Monday.

Auger-Aliassime and Struff, a 34-year-old veteran, have split their first four career meetings.