Felix Auger-Aliassime was beaten by Jannik Sinner in the final of the Paris Masters but he will take a lot of heart from the tournament as a whole.
Auger-Aliassime has enjoyed a pretty steady indoor swing in 2025. He got to the quarterfinal of the Swiss Indoors event in Basel and then went all the way to the final in Paris.
Sinner hailed Auger-Aliassime after the final, which he won in straight sets and now, the Canadian player faces a wait to see if he’s qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin.
Ahead of the final tournament of the year for the game’s big players, Auger-Aliassime might have just made a decision that could prove to be a masterstroke.
Felix Auger-Aliassime makes the right call to skip Metz
Ahead of the Paris Masters, Auger-Aliassime had it all to do in order to qualify for the ATP Finals. He found himself behind Lorenzo Musetti, with the Italian holding all of the aces in the race to Turin.
However, a surprise exit for Musetti against fellow Italian player Lorenzo Sonego, coupled with a run to the final for Auger-Aliassime, has turned the situation on its head.
It’s now Auger-Aliassime who sits in the final spot, but with Musetti choosing to play in Athens to try and regain his place in the top eight, it was intriguing that the Canadian chose to skip Metz.
Still, when you dig into things a little bit deeper, perhaps this decision is one that will go down as a bit of a stroke of genius when all is said and done.
For starters, there is a sense that Novak Djokovic will withdraw from the event. The Serbian player didn’t enter the tournament last year, and with the Australian Open to come in January, the world number four could choose to pull out of the 2025 event.
Furthermore, Auger-Aliassime has played a lot of tennis in recent weeks. If he’s to do himself justice at the ATP Finals, he will need to rest and playing in Metz wouldn’t have done anything to bolster his energy levels.
Auger-Aliassime has enjoyed a brilliant rise up the rankings, and although it’s a risk for him to not play in Metz and possibly lose out to Musetti, it does at least feel like a calculated one.
Auger-Aliassime could do some damage at the ATP Finals
With a host of players showing signs of fatigue and physical uncertainties on the back of a very long year, Auger-Aliassime could take full advantage.
Naturally, he’s got to make sure his place is guaranteed first but with his game seemingly in good shape since the midway point of the year, he could cause quite a stir.
Auger-Aliassime reached the semifinal of the US Open earlier this year and quite clearly, the Canadian looks like a player who isn’t afraid to take on the game’s best players.
Although he’s going to take the time off this week, he will be closely watching Musetti with a win at the Athens Open – where Djokovic is also playing – enough to squeeze him ahead of Auger-Aliassime.
It promises to be an exciting week or so, but the decision taken by Auger-Aliassime feels like a very mature one and one that could pay dividends in the long run.
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