Felix Auger-Aliassime overcame Alexander Zverev to confirm his place in the ATP Finals knockout stages.
Auger-Aliassime continues his excellent late-season form by defeating Zverev in straight sets and sneaking into the ATP Finals semi-finals.
The Canadian will play Carlos Alcaraz in the final four and he will end the season in the top five unless Alex de Minaur defeats Jannik Sinner in the other semi-final.
Auger-Aliassime was impressed against Zverev in his final group stage game and Tim Henman has detailed the major difference between the two men.
Tim Henman shares what Felix Auger-Aliassime’s plan was against Alexander Zverev
Auger-Aliassime snuck into the ATP Finals at the last minute, but he’s one of the most in-form players at the tournament.
The Canadian reached the semi-final of the US Open and followed it up with a Vienna Open win and a final appearance at the Paris Masters.
He’s lived up to his form at the ATP Finals and Henman believed there was a huge class difference between him and Zverev.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Henman said: “I mean, he went through the period of losing those finals, then he had a great start at the year a few years ago when he went to a lot of indoor tournaments.
“And you know at times, he missed some poor shots, you know, from the back of the court, he suddenly missed by 10 feet, and you think Wow where did that come from? But I always felt that there was a plan.
“His serving was excellent today; he came up with big serves at the right time, saving those break points, but you know, he’s looking to get that forehand into play.
“He’s looking to use the slow slice to change the pace against Zverev. He dropped back to get that first serve back into play.”
Henman believes Auger-Aliassime’s plan ahead of his match with Zverev was pivotal in earning him the victory.
“So it was as if he was thinking, it was as if he wanted to really come up with a plan as to the way that he could dictate, and that was probably the difference, whereas Zverev, you’re just questioning, you know, when you see his footwork like that, it’s almost nonexistent on the forehand side.”
Auger-Aliassime has won 24 matches since reaching the US Open final, more than any other player on the ATP Tour.
Felix Auger-Aliassime holds a remarkable record in 2025
Auger-Aliassime looked comfortable throughout against Zverev, but he did need a tie-break to confirm the victory in the second set.
The Canadian’s tie-break victory against the German was the 32nd tie-break the star has won this season.
Auger-Aliassime holds an impressive 68% success rate in tie-breaks this season, which is the sixth best on the entire ATP Tour.
| Rank | Player | % of tie-breaks won |
| 1 | Sebastian Baez | 83.3% |
| 2 | Jannik Sinner | 82.4% |
| 3 | Casper Ruud | 73.3% |
| 4 | Grigor Dimitrov | 72.7% |
| 5 | Jenson Brooksby | 71.4% |
| 6 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 68.2% |
Only five players are above Auger-Aliassime with regard to percentage of tie-breaks won, although none of the men have competed in as many as the Canadian.
