Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada claimed his first win at this year’s ATP Finals by battling back to beat American Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5 on Wednesday. Both had lost their opening matches at the season-ending event for the top eight men’s players. But Auger-Aliassime managed to showcase his trademark indoor brilliance to leave the eighth seed with a chance of reaching the semifinals. “He was playing much better than me at the start. It’s not often that I get broken twice in the first set indoors,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was a weird start, but as the match went on I was finding ways to put returns in the court.
“Once we engaged in the rallies, I felt like I could win more. You just have to fight, believe, and play the next point the right way.”
The fifth-seeded Shelton next plays defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday in their last round-robin matches, when Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Alexander Zverev.
Sinner was playing Zverev later Wednesday.
Shelton dominated the first set and got an early break but a terrible game from him, when he was serving for the set, saw Auger-Aliassime break back.
Shelton, playing in his first ATP Finals, showed his frustration by hitting his racket on the ground. It flew out of his hand and toward spectators. No one was hit, but he received a code violation warning.
The American recovered to break straight back and take the opening set.
The second set went with serve and Shelton managed to save three set points in the tiebreaker but a double fault — shortly after taking a tumble — saw Auger-Aliassime pull level.
The Canadian never looked back and, although Shelton managed to fend off two break points early in the decider, Auger-Aliassime broke him in the final game, sealing the victory on his third match point.
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