Felix Auger-Aliassime revealed he thought about Roger Federer on the morning of his Basel final and thought how cool it would be to become a Basel champion. On Sunday, Auger-Aliassime defeated Holger Rune 6-3 7-5 to lift his first Basel title.
Auger-Aliassime, 22, was born on August 8, just like record 10-time Basel champion Federer. After becoming a champion in Basel, Auger-Aliassime admitted he was honored to join Federer on the Basel champions list. “It’s really cooI actually thought about him this morning, and thought how cool it would be if I win here, where he won 10 times.
I’m very far from that, but it’s so cool to have my name with all these great champions at this prestigious tournament. Lifting the trophy is definitely going to feel special,” Auger-Aliassime said, per the ATP website.
Auger-Aliassime wins his third consecutive title
Auger-Aliassime, who started his career by losing his first ATP finals, has now won three titles in as many weeks. After winning Florence and Antwerp, Auger-Aliassime also made it all the way in Basel.
Now, Auger-Aliassime has won four titles in 2022. “It’s been an amazing week. Once again in the final, not getting broken all week. [It’s been] a long year, a long stretch of wins, and it’s not over. So hopefully I can keep going, but right now I’m feeling all the good emotions that come with winning a tournament.
It’s amazing,” Auger-Aliassime added. Auger-Aliassime made a very positive start to the Basel final as he claimed the first break of the match in the fourth game to open an early 3-1 lead. Up by a break, Auger-Aliassime held on to his serve the rest of the set to clinch the opener.
After losing the first set, Rune managed to put some pressure on Auger-Aliassime’s serve but he failed to convert a break point in the second game and also missed out on two break points in the eighth game. Rune paid the price for not realizing his break points as Auger-Aliassime claimed a break in the 11th game before serving out for the match in the following game.
