Felix fights off MP in three-hour Munich marathon

Fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime saved a match point Tuesday, overcoming home hope Maximilian Marterer 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(3) at the BMW Open after three hours, 24 minutes.

“99 per cent of the time you lose a match like this, " Auger-Aliassime said. "But today it went my way."

The Canadian trailed 2-5 in the decider and served to stay in the match on three occasions. Marterer, who was aiming to end his eight-match skid at tour-level, held a match point on return at 5-6, 30/40.

“Crazy match, one of the craziest I’ve played,” Auger-Aliassime said. “In the end, I got a bit lucky. Luck was on my side saving the match point. I’m really happy to still be alive in this tournament and to give myself a chance to play again.”

In blustery conditions, Auger-Aliassime struggled to find his best level but he held his nerve in key moments, even producing a deft drop shot when two points from defeat at 4-5 in the third set.

Auger-Aliassime, No. 34 in the PIF ATP Rankings, will next face Taro Daniel, who raced past Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 6-4.

Cristian Garin, who won Munich in 2019, downed seventh seed Dominik Koepfer 7-6(3), 6-3 after winning 80 per cent of his first-serve points.

German Yannick Hanfmann closed the day by rallying past eighth seed Alexander Shevchenko 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5. Two-time Munich finalist Botic van de Zandschulp escaped qualifier Ivan Gakhov 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in a two-hour, 42-minute battle.