Felix Auger-Aliassime—surprise, surprise—becomes the first two-title men’s champ of 2025

We’re just four weeks into 2025, but we already have our first multi-title winner on the men’s side.

When the season started, would anyone, anywhere, have predicted it would be Felix Auger-Aliassime?

Once upon a time, the Canadian, now 24, was a leading man among the Next Gen cast. By the end of 2022, he had reached No. 6, made a Grand Slam semifinal, and won back-to-back-to-back indoor titles. Well-spoken and well-mannered, he promised to be a star who could appeal to younger and more traditionalist fans alike.

But his star has dimmed in the three years since. Instead, two younger players, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, became the new faces of the game. Instead, Auger-Aliassime, slowed at times by injury but just as often by inconsistency, meandered his way out of the Top 30. Even sudden upturns in form fizzled quickly. Last May, he made a heartening run to the Madrid final, but then lost in the first round at Wimbledon and the US Open, finished the season without a title, and had to pull out of his final event with a back injury.

It’s not surprising that, at this point in his career, steadiness and work—rather than Grand Slam titles or a Top 10 ranking—are FAA’s watchwords for 2025.

“I think the off-season was beneficial for me, and we’ve done some good work, so I trust that we’ll get rewarded,” Auger-Aliassime said during his run to the Adelaide title last month. “If I stay consistent, my ranking will get back up.”

“Right now the focus is really on being consistent with what’s in my control and how well I do my work.”

Auger-Aliassime is doing his work well at the moment. With his 6-2, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2) win over Aleksandar Kovacevic in the Montpellier final on Sunday, he has run his record to 10-2 this year, and followed up his Adelaide victory with another. He showed again how well he can serve, and play, in controlled conditions. This was his seventh career title, and his sixth to come indoors. He did it without getting broken over three sets in the final.

“It tells you how good the serving was today,” he said of the lack of break points on either side.

Read more: Auger-Aliassime outlasts qualifier Kovacevic in third-set tiebreak to win Montpellier

Auger-Aliassime’s inconsistency has always been a little surprising, considering how outwardly even-keel his personality is, and how quietly dedicated he seems to his craft. But even in a victory as satisfying as this one, there were signs of nerves, and variations in his playing level from one set to the next.

FAA broke out of the gates fast, and his forehand looked like it would be too much for the 102nd-ranked Kovacevic to handle. But as the finish line neared, errors began to leak off of FAA’s racquet. He let two match points slip in the second set, and he was down 15-30 a couple of times on his serve in the third. The feisty, little-known Kovacevic even rallied the French crowd to his side.

“It was the craziest final I’ve played,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I started great, credit to Aleks, he raised his game. It was toe-to-toe until the end.”

Credit indeed to Kovacevic, a 26-year-old from New York who adds his name to the ever-growing list of Top 100 Americans with this win. His week in Montpellier began in the qualifiers, and included victories over David Goffin, Alexander Bublik, and Andrey Rublev. He played this final with a crowd-pleasing fearlessness that included a match-point-saving backhand pass that landed on the baseline.

In the deciding tiebreak, though, Auger-Aliassime restored order right away. He started with a volley winner, continued on with error-forcing ground strokes, and finished with an ace.

That ending may be the most promising aspect of Auger-Aliassime’s week. This is someone who lost his first nine finals. So far this year, he’s finding ways to win those matches, and run through the tape.

Still, even at 24, FAA has been around long enough to know that this a marathon rather than a sprint.

“Seasons are long, it’s a long year ahead, and I’m not in control of everything that can happen and go on,” he says. “But what I’m sure is I’ll give my best.”