Marseille Open 2022: Andrey Rublev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime preview, head-to-head and prediction
Match Details
Fixture: (2) Andrey Rublev vs (3) Felix Auger-Aliassime
Date: 20 February 2022
Tournament: Open 13 Provence 2022
Round: Final
Venue: Marseille, France
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Indoor Hardcourt
Prize money: €545,200
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | India - Tennis TV
Andrey Rublev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime preview
Second seed Andrey Rublev faces third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final of the Open 13 on Sunday.
Rublev started his 2022 season at the Australian Open and strolled into the third round following comprehensive wins over Gianluca Mager and Ricardas Berankis. But the Russian was stunned 7-5, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 by veteran Marin Cilic. His early exit in Melbourne caused him to drop down a spot to seventh in the ATP rankings.
Rublev entered the Rotterdam Open as the reigning champion and reached the semifinals of the competition following straight-set wins over Henri Laaksonen, Kwon Soon-woo and Marton Fucsovics. However, the 24-year-old was beaten by eventual champion Auger-Aliassime in the final four.
Rublev was seeded second at the Open 13 and reached the final following hard-fought wins over Richard Gasquet, Lucas Pouille and Benjamin Bonzi.
A man on a mission 👊
@AndreyRublev97 has defeated 3 successive Frenchman en route to the Marseille final!
#O13Provence https://t.co/Bz81jt4GQl
Auger-Aliassime started the year strongly by helping Canada win the ATP Cup. This saw him attain a career-high ranking of No. 9.
The Canadian had a shaky start to the Australian Open, surviving scares from Emil Ruusuvuori and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the early rounds. He then beat Dan Evans and Marin Cilic to enter the last eight of the Melbourne Major.
Auger-Aliassime took the first two sets against Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals. However, the Russian bounced back to beat him after saving a match point.
The Canadian entered the Rotterdam Open as the third seed and won the tournament by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The victory marked the Canadian's first title on the ATP tour after losing all eight of his previous finals.
Auger-Aliassime was seeded third at the Open 13 and reached the final following straight-set wins over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Ilya Ivashka and Roman Safiullin.
Felix Auger-Aliassime joins Andrey Rublev in the final 👏
The No 2 seed of the tournament beat Roman Safiullin 7-6(4) 7-6(5).
#O13Provence #atptour https://t.co/NEnmvlQqbi
Andrey Rublev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime head-to-head
Sunday's match will be the fourth meeting between the two players. Rublev leads the head to head 2-1 but Auger-Aliassime won their most recent encounter in Rotterdam.
Andrey Rublev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime prediction
The final will be tightly contested and there is every chance of it going down to the wire. Both players will rely heavily on their strong serve and forehand to put pressure on the other.
Given their serving efficiency, there is a good chance we will see a number of aces and a tiebreak or two. Eventually, it could come down to who handles the pressure better in crunch moments.
The match will be highly competitive but Auger-Aliassime, who is riding high on confidence at the moment, should be able to edge out Rublev and clinch his second ATP singles title.