Felix Auger-Aliassime has made a dream start to his clay-court season by winning Bastide UTS Nimes.
Auger-Aliassime was making his first appearance at UTS (Ultimate Tennis Showdown), the league founded by Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ former coach.
The Canadian met defending champion Casper Ruud in the final, where he emerged victorious 10-11, 14-10, 14-15, 15-11, 2-0.
The tournament was played at the iconic Arenes de Nimes, with 13,000 fans watching the final between Auger-Aliassime and Ruud.
And the champion has now celebrated his victory on social media, with Mouratoglou among those delighted for him.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime celebrates Bastide UTS Nimes title
Sharing images of his success on Instagram, Auger-Aliassime wrote: “We came, we saw, we conquered… and danced.
“What an atmosphere, Merci Nimes.”
And Mouratoglou commented: “Congratulations!
“Not only for winning playing amazing tennis, but also for putting on a great show!”
Auger-Aliassime is now among a handful of UTS first-time winners, joining Francisco Cerundolo (Hong Kong 2025), Tomas Machac (Guadalajara 2025), Jack Draper (London 2023), Andrey Rublev (Frankfurt 2023), and Yibing Wu (Los Angeles 2023).
Felix Auger-Aliassime eyes first ATP clay-court title at Monte Carlo
While Auger-Aliassime will be delighted with his hard-fought success, the 25-year-old has very little time to celebrate.
He turns his immediate focus to the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco, where the Canadian is the sixth seed.
Either Marin Cilic or a lucky loser/qualifier is up first for Auger-Aliassime, who has received a bye into the second round.
He’ll enter the ATP Masters 1000 tournament with a 15-6 record for 2026, along with one title from Montpellier.
Auger-Aliassime is chasing a ninth career title at the Monte Carlo Masters, but notably a very first on clay, with all of his success having arrived on hard courts.
| Year | Wins | Tournaments |
| 2026 | 1 | Montpellier (Indoor/Hard) |
| 2025 | 3 | Brussels (Indoor/Hard) Montpellier (Indoor/Hard) Adelaide (Outdoor/Hard) |
| 2023 | 1 | Basel (Indoor/Hard) |
| 2022 | 4 | Basel (Indoor/Hard) Antwerp (Indoor/Hard) Florence (Indoor/Hard) Rotterdam (Indoor/Hard) |
That won’t do much for his confidence, but his latest efforts on the UTS Tour certainly will, which also included wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev.
After winning the first event of the season, Auger-Aliassime now tops the UTS 2026 ranking, with the schedule next turning to Rio in July.
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