Felix Auger-Aliassime and Aleksandar Kovacevic will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in the final of the Open Occitanie on Sunday afternoon.
Their only previous meeting came last summer at the Cincinnati Masters, where Auger-Aliassime cruised 6-3, 6-1. The world No. 23 is an especially big favorite this time around because they are playing on an indoor hard court. Auger-Aliassime is the ATP Tour leader in indoor match victories dating back to 2022, with a 52-14 such record since the start of that season. Five of his six ATP titles have come indoors and he has also reached four other indoor finals.
Montpellier’s No. 2 seed has been up to his usual tricks on this surface throughout the week. He did not drop a single set on his way to the championship match, beating Arthur Cazaux, Bu Yunchaokete, and Jesper de Jong.
This has been the best week of Kovacevic’s career, seeing him through to his first ATP final. In fact, the 26-year-old American had previously been to just one semifinal (Seoul 2022). Since qualifying for the Montpellier main draw, Kovacevic has advanced with wins over David Goffin, Mattia Bellucci, defending champion Alexander Bublik, and top seed Andrey Rublev.
Although the world No. 102 is on fire, he doesn’t have any noticeable advantage going into this matchup. Auger-Aliassime owns a huge edge in experience on this kind of a stage and it cannot be overstated how good he is on indoor hard courts. Count on the Canadian taking care of business for a seventh ATP title.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2
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Felix in 3