Felix Auger-Aliassime boosts SF hopes with Ben Shelton’s comeback at Nitto ATP Finals | ATP Tour
match report
Shelton returns at Nitto ATP Finals, Auger-Aliassime gives SF hope
Canada makes it 1-1 in Bjorn Borg’s group
November 12, 2025
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Felix Auger-Aliassim will make his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals after making his debut in 2022.
Jerome Coombe
Felix Auger-Aliassime displayed his signature indoor talent and mental fortitude with a thrilling comeback victory over Ben Shelton at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old trailed by two points in a tense second-set tie-break but mustered the courage to seal the victory 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 after two hours and 25 minutes in Turin. Despite the constant challenge posed by Shelton’s relentless serve and volley pressure, Auger-Aliassime maintained his composure to claim his tour-leading 20th final set victory of the season.
Return👑@felixtennis Flip Sheldon’s script and become the second man to score 40 hard court victories this season!#NittoATP Finals pic.twitter.com/UY0IizKaCO
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 12, 2025
“He was much better than me at the beginning,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s not often that I get broken twice in the first set indoors… It was a weird start, but as the match went on, I was finding ways to get the ball back on the court. Once we got into the swing of things, I felt like I could win more. You just have to fight, believe, and play the next point the right way.”
With this victory, Auger-Aliassime kept alive his hopes of reaching the semi-finals for the first time in the prestigious season finale. After losing to defending champion Janik Sinner in his opening match, he now sits 1-1 in the Bjorn Borg bracket and will face third seed Alexander Zverev in Friday’s final round-robin match.
Auger-Aliassime struggled with injuries in the loss to Sinner and there were concerns about his condition, but he moved freely against Shelton, calming those concerns. In fact, it was the American who fell in the second-set tiebreak when he committed a costly double fault on set point, giving Auger-Aliassime a chance to fight back.
“My body feels great. We recovered well and did the right things,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I played two and a half hours of high-intensity tennis today. I have to give him credit, he kept hitting great serves. When your opponent plays so well, you have to give him credit, but also give myself credit for staying calm.”
Auger-Aliassime, ranked eighth in the PIF ATP rankings according to the Infosys ATP Win-Loss Index, has been a threat on indoor hard courts for years, recording a record 84 wins in such conditions this decade. After equalizing against Sheldon, he found his groove on serve and eventually improved to 2-0 in the Lexus ATP Head-to-Head Series.
Sheldon will be rueing the missed opportunity after going down 2-0 in the Bjorn Borg Group on his late-season debut. He dropped five points in a row at 6/3 in the second-set tiebreaker against Zverev in his first match, and made a series of key unforced errors at a similar moment against Auger-Aliassime.
