In the second hour of the singles final at the Open Occitanie in Montpellier on Sunday, it looked as though American Aleksandar Kovacevic was a player of destiny. After being handled with ease by Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first set, he saved two championship points in the second to push the match the distance, and with the wind of six previous wins at his back, the world No. 102’s flashing shotmaking continued to keep the former Top 10 player guessing.
Ultimately, though, the No. 2 seed stayed steady, and got the final word. Swatting aside the only break point he faced in the entire match, crucially at 5-5 in the decider, Auger-Aliassime took the long road to his second title of the season with a 6-2, 6-7(7), 7-6(2) triumph.
After two hours and 39 minutes, the victor dubbed it “the craziest final [he’d] played” in his career, “whether I won or lost.”
“I started great, couldn’t have gotten a better start, feeling good, but a credit to Aleks, he raised his level and I think it was a very high level on both ends,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Serving well, toe-to-toe until the end, I think this match deserved to go three sets with the way he was playing in the second set.”
