Felix Survives Varillas Scare, Earns First Roland Garros Win

Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a major scare Sunday at Roland Garros, rallying from two-sets-to-love down for the first time in his career to reach the second round in Paris for the first time.
The World No. 9 recovered from a slow start to overcome Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in a dramatic opening day encounter on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“It's great. It's such a lovely court,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It's beautiful out there, and so it was really a treat and a pleasure to play on this court. It was disappointing in the match to see how things were going, I really hoped for better.

“But I think that's why I also wanted to really push myself and really try everything…I feel like I left it all on the court. Because this was an important day for me, an important win. I really wanted to get this first one here.”

In a tight match, the Canadian struggled to cope with the World No. 122’s variety and intensity in the first two sets, with the Peruvian visibly pumped on what was his Grand Slam debut. However, Auger-Aliassime managed to turn the tables as he cut down on errors. The ninth seed found more first serves and hit with greater power, forcing Varillas into mistakes to advance after three hours and 13 minutes.