Tsitsipas Returns To Marseille Final

Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to his second straight Open 13 Provence championship match on Saturday, beating Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-3 in Marseille.

The second seed dropped only one point on serve in the second set (20/21) to complete his seventh straight victory at the ATP 250 event. Tsitsipas has won 14 consecutive sets in Marseille dating back to a first-round loss against eventual quarter-finalist Nicolas Mahut in 2018.

Tsitsipas is bidding to win back-to-back titles at an ATP Tour event for the first time. The 21-year-old beat Mikhail Kukushkin at this tournament last year to lift his second tour-level trophy.

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Tsitsipas will face Rotterdam runner-up Felix Auger-Aliassime for the title. After losing his opening two ATP Head2Head clashes against Auger-Aliassime, the 21-year-old beat the Canadian in their most recent meeting at last year's Rolex Shanghai Masters.

“It keeps getting better and better,” said Tsitsipas. “I really appreciate all the love that I receive here and tomorrow is an exciting day. I need to prepare, be ready for it and I can’t wait to show an even better Stefanos tomorrow.”

Tsitsipas made an early breakthrough at 3-2 in the first set, hitting with confidence on his forehand as Bublik began to misfire off the same wing. Despite dropping serve for the first time this week at 5-4, the defending champion moved up the court and continued to attack Bublik’s forehand to claim the opening set with a second service break.

After earning his third straight love service hold, Tsitsipas increased his advantage in the opening stages of the second set with another service break. The World No. 6 returned with precision and found the target with passing shots to break for a 3-1 lead. Tsitsipas continued to serve with confidence and forced Bublik into a backhand volley error on his fourth match point to move to 7-2 in Marseille.

“I tried to stay in the match as much as possible and play each point individually. I know he can be quite unexpected,” said Tsitsipas. “You don’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to expect from today’s opponent… I am really happy with myself that I found a balance and I didn’t panic when things got tight. That is a great attitude that I put out on the court.”

Bublik was aiming to reach his third ATP Tour final. The Kazakh defeated two seeded players — Benoit Paire and Denis Shapovalov — in three-set matches en route to the semi-finals.