Match Report
Auger-Aliassime retains SF hopes alive with Shelton comeback at Nitto ATP Finals
Canadian improves to 1-1 in Bjorn Borg Group
November 12, 2025
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Felix Auger-Aliassime is making his second look on the Nitto ATP Finals after debuting in 2022.
By Jerome Coombe
Felix Auger-Aliassime showcased his trademark indoor brilliance and psychological fortitude on Wednesday on the Nitto ATP Finals, the place he acquired up and operating with an exciting comeback win over Ben Shelton.
The 25-year-old got here inside two factors of defeat in a tense second-set tie-break, however he rallied with grit to seal a 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 victory after two hours, 25 minutes in Turin. Though Shelton’s relentless serve-and-volley stress posed fixed challenges, Auger-Aliassime stayed composed to notch his Tour-leading twentieth deciding-set win of the season.
Comeback 👑@felixtennis flips the script on Shelton and turns into the second man to file 40 hard-court wins this season!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/UY0IizKaCO
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 12, 2025
“He was taking part in a lot better than me initially,” Auger-Aliassime mentioned. “It’s not typically that I get damaged twice within the first set indoors… It was a bizarre begin, however because the match went on I used to be discovering methods to place returns within the court docket. As soon as we engaged within the rallies, I felt like I may win extra. You simply should struggle, consider, and play the following level the suitable manner.”
With the victory, Auger-Aliassime retains intact his hopes of reaching the semi-finals on the prestigious season finale for the primary time. Having fallen to defending champion Jannik Sinner in his opener, he now sits at 1-1 within the Bjorn Borg Group and can face third seed Alexander Zverev in his remaining round-robin match on Friday.
There have been considerations over Auger-Aliassime’s bodily state after he suffered an damage scare throughout his defeat to Sinner, however he silenced these doubts as he moved freely in opposition to Shelton. It was actually the American who took a tumble within the second-set tie-break, during which he threw in a expensive double fault on set level to supply Auger-Aliassime a route again in.
“I felt nice, bodily. We recovered nicely, did the suitable issues,” mentioned Auger-Aliassime. “In the present day I used to be capable of play two-and-a-half hours of high-intensity tennis. I’ve to provide him credit score, he saved arising with nice serves. When the opponent performs that nicely, you need to give him credit score, but in addition to myself for staying cool.”
Auger-Aliassime, the No. 8 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings, has been a confirmed menace on indoor exhausting courts over time, tallying a file 84 wins in these situations this decade, in response to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. As soon as he levelled the rating in opposition to Shelton, he discovered his groove on serve and finally discovered a manner by way of to bettering to 2-0 of their Lexus ATP Head2Head sequence.
Shelton can be left to rue missed alternatives as he slips to 0-2 within the Bjorn Borg Group on his debut on the season finale. He misplaced 5 consecutive factors from 6/3 within the second-set tie-break in opposition to Zverev in his first match and hit a sequence of essential unforced errors at an identical second in opposition to Auger-Aliassime.
