Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime returned to the world top 20 on Monday after making an impressive jump of 15 places in the ATP world rankings.
This meteoric rise is attributable to his participation in the final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid on Sunday, where he lost 6-4, 5-7 and 5-7 to Russian Andrey Rublev.
During the Madrid tournament, the 23-year-old tennis player notably scored his first victory against a player in the world’s top 10 this season – it was the Norwegian Casper Ruud – in the fourth round. His performances allowed him to return to the world top 20 for the first time since October 2023.
Auger-Aliassime will try to continue his momentum this week, during the Rome Open. The 18e The tournament’s top seed, who has a bye into the second round, will face the winner of a match between Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka and a qualified player yet to be determined.
For his part, Rublev, who came to Madrid after going through a four-game losing streak, had to battle a virus for most of the tournament’s second week of activities. He nevertheless defeated Auger-Aliassime in the final and won his second title in a Masters 1000 series tournament, at the same time gaining two places in the rankings to establish himself at sixth place in the world. The Russian notably disposed of the reigning champion of the Madrid tournament, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, in the quarter-finals, on his way to conquering his 16e career title on the ATP circuit.
As for them, Canadians Denis Shapovalov (No. 126), Gabriel Diallo (No. 152), Alexis Galarneau (No. 155) and Milos Raonic (No. 196) all moved up a few places in the world rankings. Shapovalov will face Italian Luciano Darderi (No. 54) in the first round of the Rome Open.
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