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HISTORIC VICTORY FOR AUGER-ALIASSIME IN LYON
The 16-year-old becomes the 7th youngest player to win an ATP Challenger title
Montreal, June 19, 2017 – At just 16 years, 10 months, Félix Auger-Aliassime became the seventh youngest player in history to capture an ATP Challenger title on Sunday at the Open de Sopra Steria in Lyon, France. Today, he reflected on the title.
“I’m used to playing at a high level. After playing for five weeks of Asia in Challengers qualifiers, it’s finally paid off and I found the edge,” he said in a telephone press conference.
“I continue to play well against the guys at the Futures level and the Challenger level,” he continued. “I always believe in my chances. I feel like my level wasn’t that far from these guys. Mentally, I stayed positive in every match and it paid off at the end of the week.”
Auger-Aliassime remarked that he hadn’t yet set any new “objectives” for his career, since a main 2017 objective was winning a challenger. “We’re gonna sit down and set new objectives,” he said.
Position Player Age Tournament
1 Michael Chang 15 years,7 months Las Vegas, USA, 1997
2 Richard Gasquet 16 years,0 months Montauban, FRA, 2002
3 Bernard Tomic 16 years,4 months Melbourne, AUS, 2009
4 Kent Carlsson 16 years,7 months New Ulm, GER, 1984
5 Marcos Ondruska 16 years,7 months Durban, RSA, 1989
6 Rafael Nadal 16 years,9 months Bartella, ITA, 2003
7 Auger-Aliassime 16 years, 10 months Lyon, FRA, 2017
8 Novak Djokovic 17 years,0 months Budapest, HUN, 2004
Auger-Aliassime, who was already the youngest Challenger finalist since Stefan Kozlov in 2014, defeated world no. 171 Mathias Bourge of France 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the 64 000 € tournament.
Auger-Aliassime’s victory means that three Canadians have won a title on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, a first since 2013. Denis Shapovalov won the Drummondville National Bank Challenger in March and Vasek Pospisil was crowned champion of the Busan Challenger last month.
Auger-Aliassime will look to keep his win streak going this week at the Internationaux de tennis de Blois. He will face France’s Gianni Mina in the first round.
Tennis Atlantic 