Indian Wells (USA) – The survival of Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells was by a thread, but he managed to escape from two big holes, saving three consecutive match points in the 12th game of the decisive third set, then three others in a row in the tie-break by beating the American Tommy Paul with surprise.

“It’s crazy that I won this game. I managed to stay positive and believe that I could come back. I played thinking one point at a time and the truth is that I leave with a spectacular feeling to have won,” said the Canadiens after the hard-fought turnaround on Tuesday night.

Even while playing on North American soil, Aliassime saw a split between himself and Paul. “This tournament is very special for me, I see a lot of Canadian fans and it’s always exciting. I think the crowd was half and half, sometimes they were shouting more for him and sometimes for me, but both received a big support”, commented the current world number 10.

Classified for the quarter-finals, he will have the heavy mission of challenging the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz next Thursday, trying to beat the Spaniard for the first time in four duels. Before that, on Wednesday, Aliassime will join his compatriot Denis Shapovalov in search of a place in the semi-finals of the doubles against the Indian Rohan Bopanna and the Australian Matthew Ebden.