Felix Auger-Aliassime keeps Torino’s hopes alive with opening match win over Paris
match report
Auger-Aliassime keeps Torino’s hopes alive with first win in Paris, Fonseca wins again
Vaccello rematches with cousin Lindeknecy at ATP Masters 1000
October 28, 2025
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
According to the Infosys ATP Win-Loss Index, Felix Auger-Aliassime has a record of 44-21 this season.
Sam Jacott
Felix Auger-Aliassime kept his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals alive at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday, beating Argentine qualifier Francisco Comesana 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-3 in the first set.
The Canadian won the ATP 250 event in Brussels nine days ago but was forced to withdraw in the quarterfinals in Basel last week. After his first-round victory in Paris, Auger-Aliassime closed the gap on eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti to 440 points heading into the PIF ATP Live event in Turin. Musetti meets with Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday.
Auger-Aliassime is currently ranked ninth in Turin live events and will need to hone in on the French capital if he wants to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for a second time. The 25-year-old played in Turin in 2022 but lost in the round-robin stage.
In a hard-fought battle with Comesana, Auger-Aliassime didn’t drop a point on the first serve of the second set and then defeated the world No. 68 in the deciding set, winning in two hours and 20 minutes in the pair’s first Lexus ATP head-to-head matchup, according to Infosys ATP statistics. Auger-Aliassime is 44-21 this season.
Auger-Aliassime will next meet Frenchman Alexander Muller in Paris. The Canadian’s best result in the French capital was reaching the semifinals in 2022.
Joao Fonseca won his second ATP Tour title on Sunday with a victory at the ATP 500 event in Basel. The Brazilian advanced to the second round in his tournament debut with a come-from-behind victory over Denis Shapovalov 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday in Paris.
Last week in Switzerland, Fonseca surpassed the Canadian to become the third youngest ATP 500 champion in series history (since 2009) and went one better again.
“In tennis you have to change your mentality from week to week,” Fonseca said. “I won two days ago and now I’m here against Paris. I’m happy to change my mentality and prepare for this match. I lost the first set and after I changed a few things, I’m really happy with my mental state in this match. I didn’t play my best at the beginning and I felt a little sore in my hip, but it’s all good and there’s nothing we can’t adjust for the next round and we’ll move on.”
The 19-year-old, who is ranked at a career-high No. 28 in the PIF ATP Rankings, struck with clean power from both wings and overcame physical issues in the third set, during which he underwent a medical timeout, to improve to 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Fonseca will next face No. 10 seed Karen Khachanov. The 2024 Next Generation ATP Finals hosted by PIF Champions is the first Brazilian player to win the Paris Masters 1000 event since Tomaz Bellucci in 2015.
In other early action, Shanghai champion Valentin Vacherot defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-3 to set up a rematch with his cousin Arthur Rinderknech. Earlier this month, Vaccello became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 winner in history (since 1990) when he defeated Lindeknecht in three sets in Shanghai.
