‘Winning never gets old’ – Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev win titles to boost ATP Finals hopes

Felix Auger-Aliassime described his Firenze Open victory as “so special” as he boosted his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.

Auger-Aliassime beat JJ Wolf 6-4 6-4 in the final to win his second career title.

The victory moves him up into the final qualifying place in the Race to Turin standings.

“It never gets old. Winning, it always feels like the first time,” said Auger-Aliassime, who is up to No. 8 in the world rankings.

“It’s so special to win, especially here. I had a fantastic week and it’s been amazing.”

Auger-Aliassime lost just one set on his way to victory in Florence.

He has a 180-point lead over Taylor Fritz in the Race to Turin standings but knows there are opportunities for movement with three weeks of the regular season remaining.

“The plan right now is to play every week, to play in Antwerp, Basel and Paris because there are still tournaments to play and the race is very close,” he said.

“There [are] players like Taylor and Andrey [Rublev], and many others are competing hard right now to try and qualify, so I’m going to try to put myself in the best position possible to try and make it to Turin.”

Auger-Aliassime looked in impressive form at the Firenze Open, dropping serve just four times throughout the week.

After losing his first service game of the final against Wolf, Auger-Aliassime did not face another break point.

“Every final is tough, it’s the two best players of the week,” said the Canadian.

“Of course, you try to win more than you lose the finals and that’s why I came out here today ready to give everything. We had some very tough rallies in the second set, feeling tough physically. But you keep pushing, try to keep the level high.

“But there’s no magic. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but of course I’m really happy because I came here [as] the first seed. I was the favourite in all of my matches on paper. It’s never an easy position, so to come out and win my four matches with confidence and conviction, it’s really good for my confidence.”

Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev boosted his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals as he beat Sebastian Korda 6-2 6-3 in the Gijon Open final to claim his fourth title of the season.

Rublev struck 29 winners and made just four unforced errors as he won in 77 minutes.

“I am really happy and really grateful,” said the Russian. “To win a title is always a special feeling because all the players are working to win a title and play the best tournaments.

“To win one more title here in my career is really important for me. All the weeks are important for me because I am fighting for the [Nitto ATP] Finals.”

Rublev is sixth in the Race to Turin standings and has nearly a 400-point lead over Auger-Aliassime.

Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. Djokovic qualifies as a Grand Slam winner this season and does not need to finish the top eight, while it is unclear if world No. 2 Nadal will play after the birth of his first child recently.

If Nadal doesn’t play that would open up another spot in the Race to Turin standings.

“It would be a really amazing feeling [to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals] because this is the tournament players are dreaming of playing,” added Rublev.

“To qualify for three years in a row will be really important for me.”

Race to Turin standings – w/c Oct 17

• 1. Carlos Alcaraz – 6,460 points
• 2. Rafael Nadal – 5,810 points
• 3. Casper Ruud – 4,930 points
• 4. Stefanos Tsitsipas – 4,885 points
• 5. Daniil Medvedev – 3,555 points
• 6. Andrey Rublev – 3,440 points
• 7. Felix Auger-Aliassime – 3,065 points
• 8. Taylor Fritz -2,885 points
• 9. Hubert Hurkacz – 2,725 points
• 10. Novak Djokovic – 2,720 points
• 11. Alexander Zverev – 2,700 points
• 12. Cameron Norrie – 2,365 points
• 13. Pablo Carreno Busta – 2,315 points
• 14. Jannik Sinner – 2,310 points
• 15. Matteo Berrettini – 2,225 points