Felix Auger-Aliassime continues his run of form, toppling Frenchman Gilles Simon, 6-1, 6-3, after one hour and 33 minutes at the last ATP Masters 1000 of the season.
After playing the final match of his professional career, Simon received a much-deserved homage to celebrate his 20-year professional career on home soil.
The third meeting on Tour between Auger-Aliassime and Simon saw Canada’s top racquet dominate the encounter, advancing into the event’s quarterfinals for the first time.
This week, he secured a spot for the Nitto ATP Finals, making his debut at the season-ending grand finale staged in Turin, Italy, from November 13.
The Canadian controlled the opener, breaking twice (second and sixth game) his opponent’s serve to seal a 6-1 win with an ace after 36 minutes.
Exquisitely effective behind his serve, he won 82 percent of his first-serve points and 50 with his second, compared to Simon’s 67 and 33 percent, respectively.
In addition, the 4-time ATP Titlist fired 16 winners (7 aces), committing eight unforced errors.
In the second set, Simon started to show signs of fatigue, using his experience to fight off his adversary, holding to grab his opener game.
The French wild card began his farewell run in Paris-Bercy by fending off former world number one Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.
On Wednesday, he rallied for three hours and a half, emerging victorious over World No. 11 Taylor Fritz, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, punching his ticket into the third round.
Both matches went three sets, summing up over six hours of play for the 37-year-old, who left everything within the tennis court.
The crowd cherished his home hero as seen in his previous encounters, fueling with some extra energy the 14-time ATP titlist from Nice.
Despite the extraordinary physical challenge, Simon made the 22-year-old work hard for the triumph, showing he was not going down without putting up a fight.
Etienne Laforgue’s pupil held his serve, keeping the score even at 3-3 but then, the World No. 8 converted his first break point of the set and held to take a 5-3 advantage.
Auger-Aliassime marched to break twice (seventh and ninth game), earning a 6-3 victory in 56 minutes, extending his unbeaten run to 15 matches in a row.
He hit 28 winners, recording 23 unforced errors, winning 75 percent of his first-serve points, and converting four of the seven breakpoint opportunities he had while saving two out of two he faced.
By achieving the third round in Paris for the first time in three appearances, the eighth seed added another feat to the best year of his young career.
Recently, he became the first Canadian to win titles in three consecutive weeks, Florence, Antwerp, and Basel, leading to an impressive 14-match winning streak.
On his way to the quarterfinals at the Rolex Paris Masters, the Montreal native produced a comeback victory over Swedish player Mikael Ymer, 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) on Wednesday.
In his quest for his maiden Masters 1000 crown, he will next face 16th seed Frances Tiafoe, who put out Alex de Minaur in straight sets earlier on Thursday.