It’s safe to say that Felix Auger-Aliassime and Arthur Cazaux are going in different directions as they prepare for their first-ever meeting in round two of the Open Sud de France on Thursday.
Cazaux looks poised to be one of the ATP Tour’s breakout stars in 2024. The 21-year-old Frenchman enjoyed plenty of success on the Challenger circuit last season and really started to make a name for himself at the Australian Open. He made a run to the fourth round while upsetting Holger Rune and Tallon Griekspoor–the latter in three lopsided sets–before falling to Hubert Hurkacz.
Auger-Aliassime is struggling down at No. 30 in the world and his ranking would be much worse than that if not for an out-of-nowhere successful title defense in Basel this past fall. The 23-year-old Canadian managed to win two matches at Melbourne Park but got clobbered by Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 even though Medvedev had won a five-setter in the previous round that ended at 3:39 am.
Cazaux has two other advantages in addition to current form. First, he is playing at home in France. Second, he already has a match under his belt this week and is therefore accustomed to these indoor hard-court conditions. Auger-Aliassime, who got a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed, is playing his first match since leaving Melbourne.
Count on momentum continuing for Cazaux.
Pick: Cazaux in 2
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Cazaux in three
Caseaux in 3.