Auger-Aliassime captures his 1st ATP doubles title in 3-set Paris Masters final

Playing in their second tournament together, Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz saved five match points after gained a berth in the final with a 6-2, 1-6, 10-5 semifinal victory over Poland’s Lukasz Kubot and Brazil’s Marcelo Melo.

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz’s title run included victories over other top-10 seeds Robert Farah — a Canadian-born Colombian — and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos (No. 1), Australia’s John Peers and Michael Venus (No. 7) and fourth-seeded Kubot and Melo.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime claims 1st ATP doubles title:

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Polish partner Hubert Hurkacz each claimed their first-ever ATP doubles title, defeating No. 2 Bruno Soares of Brazil and Mate Pavic of Croatia 6-7(3), 7-6(7), 10-8, at the ATP 1,000 Paris Masters. 9:01

Auger-Aliassime and Hurkacz reached the quarterfinals at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament last February in their team debut.

In singles, Auger-Aliassime was eliminated in the first round in Paris by Croatian veteran Marin Cilic last Monday after struggling with his serve for much of the match.

A few days earlier, Auger-Aliassime dropped an all-Canadian matchup to Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil in first-round action at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria.

On Thursday, the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime announced in a Twitter post he was parting ways with longtime coach Guillaume Marx, stating they were ending the partnership “in the utmost integrity and respect for one another.”

Medvedev wears down Zverev for 3rd Masters title

Daniil Medvedev won the Paris Masters for the first time by beating Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 Sunday for his eighth career title and third at a Masters event.

The third-seeded Russian secured just his second win against the fourth-seeded Zverev in seven matches, and his previous victory against the imposing German was also in a Masters final last year in Shanghai.

The battle between first-time finalists here and the last two U.S. Open runners-up went with serve — and with no break points — until Zverev broke Medvedev in the 12th game to take the opening set.

When Medvedev hit a forehand long on that point, Zverev let out a loud roar that pierced the silence at a Bercy Arena left empty by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rematch at upcoming ATP Finals?

Medvedev’s relentless accuracy from the baseline induced a loose shot from Zverev in the ninth game of the second set when he hit long from the back of the court. Medvedev’s pinpoint returning is among the best on the ATP Tour, and that chipped away at Zverev’s confidence as he won only 57 per cent of points on first serve compared to 75 per cent for Medvedev.

Medvedev held to love and clinched the second set with his 13th ace, then took control when Zverev padded a weak forehand into the net and was broken to love. After Zverev missed four break-point chances in the next game, he was punished when Medvedev broke him for a 3-0 lead.

Medvedev clinched the victory on his second match point when Zverev double-faulted for the third time in the match.

They could meet again at the season-ending ATP Finals in London from Nov. 15-22.