Tsitsipas, Auger-Aliassime to clash in Marseille final

Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Marseille final after cruising to a dominant 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexander Bublik.

Stefanos Tsitsipas dropped only one point on serve as he raced through the second set after gaining the break he needed in the fourth game.

Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Marseille final after cruising to a dominant 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexander Bublik on Saturday.

The Greek star will play Auger-Aliassime on Sunday after the Canadian teenager edged out Gilles Simon 7-5, 7-6 (7/2).

Second seed Tsitsipas only suffered one blip in an otherwise routine win, when the 55th-ranked Kazakh broke back in the ninth game of the first set.

Tsitsipas dropped only one point on serve as he raced through the second set after gaining the break he needed in the fourth game.

“It keeps getting better and better,” Tsitsipas, who has never successfully defended an ATP title, told atptour.com .

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“I really appreciate all the love that I receive here and tomorrow is an exciting day. I need to prepare, be ready for it and I can't wait to show an even better Stefanos tomorrow.”

The 21-year-old is attempting to become the first player to defend the Marseille title since Swede Thomas Enqvist in 1998.

Tsitsipas has returned to form this week, having arrived in France after suffering his fourth defeat from seven matches in 2020 against Aljaz Bedene in Rotterdam.

Auger-Aliassime is still waiting for his maiden ATP title, having lost his fourth straight final last weekend to Gael Monfils in the Netherlands.

The 19-year-old, who holds a 2-1 winning record over Tsitsipas, fought back from 5-2 down to take the opening set against Simon, before easing through a second-set tie-break.