Comeback king Alexander Bublik rallies again, beats Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach Montpellier final

The No. 2-seeded Italian claimed his seventh ATP singles title and first of the season with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over American Maxime Cressy in the final.

ByAssociated Press

Published Feb 12, 2023

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WATCH: Jannik Sinner defeats Arthur Fils in the 2023 Montpellier semifinals.

MONTPELLIER, France (AP) — Jannik Sinner of Italy won his seventh singles title and first of the season by beating American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the Open Sud de France final on Sunday.

The second-seeded Italian did not lose a set on his way to winning the tournament.

Sinner saved three break points in the fourth game before racing to a 4-0 lead in the tie-breaker. He took the first set when Cressy netted a backhand.

"The first key was to hold the serve. In the tie-break I knew he may miss something," Sinner said in a post-match interview. "I tried to keep my serve, which I have done, so I am very happy about the first set.

"The second set was a little bit different. I had a couple of good chances but he then served very well. I am very happy I broke him here and then I served very well at the end of match.”

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Allez! Merci Montpellier 💪🏼🦊7️⃣

Thanks to my team as always 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/EqN0iNAVI2
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) February 12, 2023

No. 51-ranked Cressy was bothered by an injury to a finger on his right hand and needed treatment at 3-2 in both sets.

Sinner won the last three games as Cressy dropped serve at 4-3 by sending a forehand volley wide before netting another volley on match point.

Cressy had won their only previous meeting, a Challenger Tour match in Lexington in 2019.

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