Rune beats Auger-Aliassime to reach Paris Masters final

Seattle Sports

PARIS (AP) — Danish teenager Holger Rune beat eighth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 in the Paris Masters semifinals on Saturday to stay on course for his first title at this level.

The 19-year-old Rune will play his first Masters final against either six-time Paris Masters champion Novak Djokovic or fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas. They were playing their semifinal later Saturday.

Rune, who won both of his career titles this year, reached his fourth straight final of the season.

Contesting his first Masters semifinal, he won 86% of his points on first serve and faced no break points. He ended Auger-Aliassime’s 16-match winning run and the 22-year-old Canadian’s bid for a fourth straight title.

Auger-Aliassime beat Rune last Sunday in the Swiss Indoors final.

Djokovic is aiming for a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title, a record-extending 39th at Masters level, a fifth title this season and 91st career overall.

Djokovic is 8-2 against Tsitsipas and has won seven straight against his Greek opponent. The past three wins have all been in finals — including a five-set thriller at the 2021 French Open, where Djokovic rallied from two sets down.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports