A pair of surprising ATP finals will take place on Sunday, with a qualifier, a wild card, and two other unseeded players in action. It’s Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Laslo Djere on red clay of Rio de Janeiro; Radu Albot vs. Daniel Evans in Delray Beach.
Rio Open: Laslo Djere vs. (WC) Felix Auger-Aliassime
This will certainly go down as one of the most surprising final matchups of 2019. Djere is ranked 90th in the world and went into Rio with a 1-4 record this season; Auger-Aliassime, the world No. 104, had won just seven ATP-level matches in his career. Moreover, this is a 500-point event–not a 250. And consider the draw, as well. Djere opened against top-seeded Dominic Thiem, will Auger-Aliassime had to face No. 2 seed Fabio Fognini.
Fast forward through a wild week in which zero seeds advanced to the quarterfinals and what he have is a Sunday showdown between Djere and Auger-Aliassime with 500 points at stake. Djere ousted Thiem, Taro Daniel, and Casper Ruud before getting a semifinal walkover from Aljaz Bedene. The 23-year-old Serb had also benefited from a less-than-100 percent Thiem in round one. Auger-Aliassime has been more impressive, beating Fognini, Christian Garin, Jaume Munar, and Pablo Cuevas. All of those constitute stellar clay-court wins, and at 18 years old the Canadian looks like he is ready for his first ATP title–and a big one.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2
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Delray Beach Open: (Q) Daniel Evans vs. Radu Albot
Albot and Evans will also be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Sunday when they battle in Delray Beach. At 82nd in the world, Albot is somehow the highest-ranked man remaining at these two tournaments. The 29-year-old Moldovan is through to the final following victories over Ivo Karlovic, Nick Kyrgios, Steve Johnson, and Mackenzie McDonald. Albot dropped the first set against McDonald on Saturday night before dominating 6-0, 6-0 the rest of the way.
At 148th in the rankings due to a comeback from suspension, Evans had to go through qualifying simply to get into the main draw. The 28-year-old Brit even lost his opening set in round one of qualies, but he recovered from that deficit and the rest is history–highlighted by wins over defending champion Frances Tiafoe and No. 1 seed John Isner both from set down. It just feels like a magical week for Evans, who is handling the windy conditions well with backhand slice, clean returning (especially against Isner), and never-say-die attitude.
Pick: Evans in 3
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FAA and Evans both in 3. So excited about FAAA and Canadian tennis (Shapovalov and Raonic) in general. Andreesscu looking good on women’s side as well. Going to be a couple of years for consistency from these young players but exciting times.
Congrats to Tsitsipas for winning the title at Marseille, his second ATP title, not dropping a set. Well done to him; he will be ranked at no.11 come Monday, ahead of Khachanov.
Radu Albot was the first tennis player from my country to win am ATP title. I am not a fan of his tennis, but he worked hard and deserves to be congratulated.
The final was edge of the seat stuff. Evans and Albot were so well matched it was impossible to tell who would win. I was routing for Evens (I’m English) and it must have been heartbreaking for him to lose after having held match point..