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Felix Auger-Aliassime registered a victory on his debut at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday as he clawed past American Maxime Cressy 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 to reach the second round.
The Canadian overcame a serve-and-volley barrage from a tenacious Cressy, finding a couple of brilliant passing shots in stressful situations to win after three hours. Auger-Aliassime arrived in Dubai after reaching the semi-finals of the Doha Open, where he was defeated by eventual champion Daniil Medvedev. The 22-year-old, who lost to Medvedev earlier this month in the quarter-finals in Rotterdam, will next face Italian Lorenzo Sonego after improving to 8-4 on the year. After winning a tight first set, Auger-Aliassime was unable to cope with Cressy's proactive game in the second set, with Cressy hitting 16 winners to equalise. The fourth seed, on the other hand, was patient on return and earned the key break in the fourth game of the third set, before remaining strong on serve to advance. "He has not the most common game. But that is why he is difficult to play. You don't have to face an opponent like him. He is quite unique and that is why I think he got me last time. I think I was a bit unprepared and wasn't able to stay as composed as I did today," ATP.com quoted Auger-Aliassime as saying. "I was sharp when I needed to. It was unfortunate it had to go three sets, but to be able to break him finally, for the first time since we've played together, was good," he added. In other action, Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp upset sixth seed Karen Khachanov 7-5, 6-2, while Australian Christopher O'Connell defeated Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 6-4. Eighth seed Borna Coric advanced after Daniel Evans was forced to retire due to injury at 2-2 in the first set. (ANI)
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