Felix, Ruud Set Third-Round Showdown

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Casper Ruud have set a third-round showdown after straight-sets opening-round wins Wednesday.

Sixth-seeded Auger-Aliassime held off veteran Croatian Marin Cilic 7-6(4), 6-3 while ninth seed Ruud defeated tricky Frenchman Corentin Moutet 7-5, 6-3.

Reaching the third round in the Principality for the first time, 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime claimed his fourth consecutive win over Cilic and improved to 16-6 on the season.

“I was giving myself chances on the return, putting a lot of returns in, creating a lot of opportunities to break,” the Canadian said. “I was struggling to hold my serve for some reason. It was tough to get free points on serve, and he kept returning deep and pushing me back, so I didn’t really have a lot of easy holds.”

Auger-Aliassime said that he was happy to begin the clay swing with a victory, given his modest 2-6 record at the tournament coming into this week.

“I’m feeling good. Nice to get a first one here; Monte Carlo’s been a tough tournament for me in the past. Coming back on the clay after such a long time, it’s always difficult for me, and I felt like over the weeks, I play better and better when I get to Madrid and Rome over the years, but hopefully, I can have a good run here.”

World No. 12 Ruud, a 2024 finalist in Monte-Carlo, moved to 9-7 on the season and is looking to reach just his second quarter-final of the year (Delray Beach). He is the only man to reach the round of 16 in Monaco in all six editions this decade. He improved to 12-2 at clay-court ATP Masters 1000s since the start of 2025, highlighted by his Madrid title.

“I feel comfortable on clay [although] it always takes a few extra days and matches to get into it,” Ruud said. “But I’m trying to play aggressive, so there will be a few more errors and I’m accepting it.

“I want to step up and play aggressive and heavy with my forehand, the way I’ve done when I played my best on this surface, so that’s kind of the goal for this tournament and the whole clay swing.”

Auger-Aliassime leads his head-to-head series with Ruud 4-3 and has won their past three meetings, two of which have come on clay.

Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour