Aliassime & Djere to clash in ATP Rio Open final

Speed Post News Network

Patna : Teenage sensation and World No 104 Felix Agur-Aliassime, Canada, entered the final of Rio Open, an ATP World Tour 500 points tournament played on outdoor clay courts at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on February 24, 2019, beating World No 63 Pablo Cuevas, 33, Uruguay, in three-sets in the semi-finals.

Aliassime, 18, will face World No 90 Laslo Djere, 23, Serbia, in the final at 1.30 am on February 25, 2019. Djere had a walk over in the semi-final as his opponent and World No 83 Aljaz Bedene, 29, Slovenia, retired before the match due to injury.

Aliassime beat Cuevas 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the semi-finals in 2hr 5 minutes. Aliassime fitred 9 Aces in the match to 5 by Cuevas. Aliassime though also committed 7 double faults to just 1 by Cuevas. But, his winning percentage on both his first and second serve ( 74 % & 60 %) was better than that of Cuevas (72% & 54 %). Aliassime broke Cuevas’ service thrice in the match while the latter broke his service twice. Cuevas won 4 games in a row in the match to 3 by Aliassime, who reached his first ATP final.

Aliassime had defeated 2nd seed and World No 16 Fabio Fognini, 31, Italy, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round.