Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas easily in the 2022 Rotterdam final to win his first ATP trophy.
It's been a long wait for Felix Auger-Aliassime who endured plenty of disappointment in his young ATP career. The Canadian player played 8 finals before this one losing all eight of them. He never even won a single set in those finals and today finally won his first-ever set. He won his 2nd one as well to take down Tsitsipas 6-4 6-2 in the Rotterdam final for his maiden title.
It's been a culmination of what Auger-Aliassime showed in Australia and that's a newfound consistency and confidence that had him playing more stable tennis before. There were no long streaks of errors, no loss of composure, but steady play with a clear plan and it works. He's been one of the best players in 2022 so far and he showed it against Tsitsipas.
Taking an early break in the first set Auger continued playing well both on serve and return. He would not be able to add another break in the first set but served it out rather well. He attacked Tsitsipas on his backhand both during rallies and on serve and it worked to perfection. It's the weakest part of the Greek's game and Auger exploited it very well.
Tsitsipa collapsed even worse in the 2nd set losing his serve twice and Auger simply cruised. The Canadian never looked nervous and always had answers for the Greek and that is why he won the trophy. Congratulations.
FIRST ATP TITLE! Felix Auger-Aliassime plays a great match to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 and win Rotterdam, his first ATP title in his 9th final! Tsitsipas, who won the ATP Finals and a Masters 1000 in the past, is now 0-8 in ATP 500 finals. Quite a stat...
