Felix Auger-Aliassime fends off Oscar Otte in Florence | ATP Tour | tennis

Felix Auger-Aliassime stayed tough, beating Oscar Otte with a strong finish in his opening match on Thursday at the UniCredit Firenze Open.

The top seed was pushed all the way up before claiming a 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2 second-round win at the ATP 250 event in Florence. Otte improved from 1-3 in the second set to level the match while Auger-Aliassime struggled to maintain his strong start, but the Canadian once again began dictating the game with his powerful forehand in the decider. He broke Otte’s serve twice in the third set to reach his 13th tour-level quarterfinal of the season.

“That was a great start,” said Auger-Aliassime after the game. “I played a great first set and until the middle of the second set, and then it’s like that in tennis sometimes, you get a little nervous. Of course I would have liked to have ended the match in straight sets, but the most important thing [thing] is that I was able to recover to play good tennis in the third set.

Auger-Aliassime scored 42 winners, including 13 aces, in his first ATP Head2Head duel against Otte. The 22-year-old was pleased with how his attacking intent had carried him to victory despite falling behind in the second set.

“That’s how I like to play, with my strength, with my serve, with my physical abilities,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I try to always go forward. This is how I commit to the game and this is how I play. I tried to do that today too. I did well, sometimes lacking a bit, but that’s ok, it gets even better.”

The win marks a solid start to an important week for Auger-Aliassime’s Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances. The Canadian is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, but he would edge Taylor Fritz to seventh if he makes the semifinals in would reach Florence. A seventh place finish is required to guarantee qualification for this year’s season finale.

Auger-Aliassime’s next opponent in Italy will be Brandon Nakashima after the American sealed a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Altug Celikbilek. The quarterfinals clash will also be important for Nakashima, who is looking to increase his chances of reaching the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals for the second straight year. The 21-year-old is currently sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Milan.

_{^{Lorenzo Musetti in action on Thursday. Credit: Giampiero Sposito/FIT}}

Earlier Thursday, Lorenzo Musetti put on a show for his home fans as #NextGenATP Italy’s Bernabe Zapata defeated Miralles 6-3, 6-0 with a scintillating opening show in Florence.

Musetti showed confidence in all facets of his game in the second round of the indoor ATP 250 event. The third seed delighted a raucous home crowd with a string of top-flight winners to seal the win over Zapata Miralles in just 69 minutes.

Musetti hit 21 winners to the Spaniard’s eight in the pair’s first tour-level meeting. The win puts the Italian in his sixth Tour quarterfinals of the season and his third on hard indoor courts (after Rotterdam and Sofia). The 20-year-old, whose excellent season also included his first ATP Tour title in Hamburg, has qualified for the second year in a row to participate in the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan in November.

Musetti meets Mackenzie McDonald in the quarterfinals in Florence after the American defeated another #NextGenATP Italian, Francesco Passaro, 6-4, 7-5. The 79th-ranked McDonald broke Passaro’s serve twice in each set to earn a 95-minute win and advance to his third tour-level quarterfinals of the season.