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American ATP player makes tennis history despite losing Montpellier final to Felix Auger-Aliassime

Photo by SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP via Getty Images
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Jannik Sinner will still be celebrating his Australian Open success, but the ATP Tour quickly moved on to Montpellier.

And after the conclusion of the ATP 250 tournament, the schedule is now already turning to the Rotterdam Open and the Dallas Open.

They both represent intriguing rematches, with Carlos Alcaraz playing Botic van de Zandschulp in the former and Taylor Fritz taking on Arthur Rinderknech in the latter.

Celebrations will, however, be taking place for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has just won his seventh tour-level title at the Open Occitanie in Montpellier.

The Canadian battled past American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-2, 6-7(7), 7-6(2) for a sixth indoor title.

TENNIS-ATP-FRA
Photo by SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP via Getty Images

Aleksandar Kovacevic becomes first qualifier to reach Montpellier final

Having also won the Adelaide International, Auger-Aliassime now boasts two titles in 2025, more than any other player.

But history has been made by his opponent despite the result, with Kovacevic becoming the first qualifier to reach the final in Montpellier, as per Tennis.

READ MORE: Felix Auger Aliassime shares what Rafael Nadal was really like behind the scenes after visiting his academy multiple times

In a fantastic run to the last two, the 26-year-old secured five of his six wins in straight sets, beating the likes of top seed Andrey Rublev and fourth seed Alexander Bublik.

What ATP Tour titles has Felix Auger-Aliassime won ahead of the Rotterdam Open?

With his fantastic displays in France, the American has risen a huge 27 places to a career-high ranking of 75.

But much of the praise has unsurprisingly gone the way of Auger-Aliassime, who has bounced back superbly from a disappointing second round exit at the Australian Open.

READ MORE: How Roger Federer really felt about playing the 2018 Australian Open final indoors

Both the Canadian and the American now immediately turn their focus to the Rotterdam Open, where Auger-Aliassime is a former champion.

He takes on Andrea Vavassori in round one, with Kovacevic facing a very tricky task against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Given his history at the event and indeed his indoor success, along with the fact that Jannik Sinner has withdrawn, Auger-Aliassime may just be quietly confident of another title.

YearTitlesTournaments
20252Montpellier (Indoor/hard)
Adelaide (Outdoor/hard)
20231Basel (Indoor/Hard)
20224Basel (Indoor/Hard)
Antwerp (Indoor/Hard)
Florence (Indoor/Hard)
Rotterdam (Indoor/Hard)
Felix Auger-Aliassime career titles