Auger-Aliassime successfully defends Montpellier crown, sets Canadian title record

  • Posted: Feb 08, 2026

Felix Auger-Aliassime, back to raising the roof.

The top seed downed home favourite Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 7-6(4) on Sunday afternoon to successfully defend his crown at the Open Occitanie in Montpellier. Auger-Aliassime did not face a break point in a 96-minute win to secure his ninth tour-level title, and his eighth on indoor hard courts.

“Adrian is always a very tough opponent to play, for all players, I think,” said Auger-Aliassime in his on-court interview. “That’s why myself and all our peers on Tour have so much respect for him and the challenge he poses on the court. I knew it was going to be a tough match today, so I’m very happy. It’s amazing emotions to win again here. I’m thrilled with my whole week and especially today.”

After defeating Stan Wawrinka, Arthur Fils, Titouan Droguet and Mannarino to go back to back in Montpellier, Auger-Aliassime moved clear of Milos Raonic to set a new record for the most Tour titles by a Canadian in the Open Era. Auger-Aliassime has now won 89 tour-level matches indoors this decade, the most of any player.

Having retired from his first-round match at the Australian Open due to cramp, Auger-Aliassime will now head to the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam full of confidence following his Montpellier bounceback. Before he steps on court in the Netherlands, he will on Monday rise two spots to No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Auger-Aliassime rode a fast start to the first set of Sunday’s final in the south of France. The 25-year-old won the first eight points to assume control and closed out the set with his second break of Mannarino’s serve in the ninth game.

The second set was a hard-fought affair dominated by serve. Auger-Aliassime carved out the first break point of the set at 5-4, 30/40, which doubled as a championship point. Mannarino fended it off with an unreturnable serve, but Auger-Aliassime later reeled off five consecutive points from 2/4 in the tie-break to complete a straight-sets win and take a 2-1 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

As it so often is when he competes indoors, Auger-Aliassime’s serve was the foundation of his final victory. He finished the match having won 87 per cent (39/45) of points behind first serves, according to Infosys ATP Stats, a number which was boosted by 13 aces.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

Source link