Tsitsipas remains Marseille champ

● World No.6, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece outclassed Felix AugerAliassime in straight sets at 6-3, 6-4 to yet again claim Marseille title.

Marseille, Feb. 24: Stefanos Tsitsipas successfully defended his Marseille title on Sunday with a straightforward victory over Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime. Greek star Tsitsipas eased to a 6-3, 6-4 win to leave Auger-Aliassime still waiting for his maiden ATP title after his fifth final defeat.

Tsitsipas, who had arrived in southern France with a 3-4 losing record this season, enjoyed an emphatic return to form as he clinched his fifth ATP trophy.

“I did well mentally. I didn’t crack when I was under pressure,” said Tsitsipas.

Auger-Aliassime would have been confident of finally ending his wait for tournament success after two wins from his three previous meetings with Tsitsipas, but has still failed to even win a set in his five Tour-level finals.

“Playing a final is wonderful, you have to have that perspective, remember that everything is going in the right direction despite everything,” said Auger-Aliassime.

“It’s heavy, losing every time in the final. There is a little doubt...when will it be my turn?,” he added.

World No.6 Tsitsipas broke in the third game and saved three break points to serve out the opening set. The second seed got the better of a run of three successive breaks in the second set to move 43 in front and only dropped one more point on serve.

He will now travel to the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Championships, where he is second seed behind World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.