Auger-Aliassime edges Paul in see-saw Adelaide SF, faces Korda in final

Felix Auger-Aliassime continued his positive start to 2025 with a hard-earned semi-final victory on Friday at the Adelaide International, a win that simultaneously denied Tommy Paul from securing his rise into the Top 10 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time.

Auger-Aliassime downed top seed Paul 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 to reach is 16th ATP Tour final, and his first on outdoor hard-courts since an ATP 250 in Melbourne in 2021. The fifth-seeded Canadian crucially saved all three break points he faced in the deciding set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to a two-hour, 45-minute triumph.

“It was a battle. It was about physical effort, mental effort, because it was match with lots of ups and downs,” said Auger-Aliassime in his on-court interview. “I feel like it was not the best level from both players, but sometimes matches are like this. You have to battle with what you have and find a way through, and I’m really happy I did today.”

Since losing to Borna Coric at the United Cup in his opening match of the 2025 season, Auger-Aliassime has reeled off four straight victories, including defeating the two highest-placed Americans in the PIF ATP Rankings: No. 4 Taylor Fritz (at the United Cup) and now No. 12 Paul. It will be another American, Sebastian Korda, that stands between the Canadian and his sixth tour-level title. Korda defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 7-6(4) in the second semi-final later on Friday.

Rising to the occasion 📈@felixtennis outlasts Tommy Paul 7-6(3) 3-6 6-4 to reach his 16th tour-level final.@AdelaideTennis | #AdelaideTennis pic.twitter.com/W5z5191yEn

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 10, 2025

Despite ending in straight sets, there was a topsy-turvy nature to much of Auger-Aliassime and Paul’s semi-final clash. The Canadian notched the first break of serve in the match for a 4-3 lead in the opening set, but his opponent responded by reeling off 10 straight points. Paul subsequently held a set point on return at 5-4, 30/40, but Auger-Aliassime fended it off before moving ahead by winning six of the final seven points in the tie-break.

The second set also featured a major swing in momentum. Paul quickly fell 0-2 behind before breaking serve three times in four return games to level the match. The key moments in the third set came in the sixth game, when Auger-Aliassime saved three break points to hold for 4-2, before serving out to improve to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Paul.

While Paul would have risen above Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov to No. 10 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings with a semi-final win, the 27-year-old will still be hopeful of breaking that barrier in the coming weeks. He will now head to Melbourne, where he will look to pick up points by bettering his 2024 third-round run at the Australian Open.

In contrast to Auger-Aliassime’s somewhat scrappy semi-final win, Korda later lit up semi-final day with a classy all-court display to see off Kecmanovic. The second seed did not face a break point in his 79-minute triumph to improve his record in Adelaide to 8-2. That tally includes his previous final run in the city in 2023, when he held a championship point before ultimately falling to Novak Djokovic.

“I just love playing here. I think this court suits me pretty well,” said the two-time ATP Tour champion Korda. “It was a great match for sure. There are still some things I can work on, but hopefully I can keep playing this way, keep having fun and keep enjoying myself.”