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Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime eventually got the job done.
The 25-year-old from Montreal defeated China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 7-6 (4) in first-round men’s singles tennis action at the Dubai Championships on Monday.
Auger-Aliassime missed two match points on return at 5-4 and three at 6-5 in the second set. Serving at 6-5, Auger-Aliassime led 30-0 and then 40-15 before the game went to deuce several times, with Zhang eventually winning the game.
In the tiebreaker, Auger-Aliassime won two of the last three points after taking a 5-3 lead to seal the win.
“I stopped counting at some point; it was getting too frustrating,” Auger-Aliassime said of the missed match points. “Having match points is the position you want to be in as a player, but it’s weird how the mind plays a trick on you.
“How much further I am from losing than he is — he should be the one that’s tight. But I told myself, `If there is a third set, I’ll be there.’’
Auger-Aliassime, the tournament’s top seed, fired 11 aces to three double faults and broke on two of his 11 chances. He also won 78 per cent of first-serve points.
Zhang had 10 aces to just one double fault and won 71 per cent of first-serve points. However, he failed to convert on all four of his break-point chances.
Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime defended his Open Occitanie title in Montpellier, France, with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Adrian Mannarino of France. It’s his ninth ATP title, making him the Canadian with the most men’s singles titles in the Open Era, passing recently retired Milos Raonic.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked No. 8 in the world, made the final in last year’s event before falling to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Canadian has won nine of his past 10 matches, lifting the trophy in Montpellier before finishing runner-up in Rotterdam.
Auger-Aliassime will next face French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
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