Lyon (AFP)

Benoît Paire won Saturday the Lyon tournament, his second trophy of the season on clay, auspicious before Roland Garros, for which he "hopes a lot".

"I'm really looking forward to Roland-Garros now, if I'm 100% physically, I'm hoping to reach the second week," he said with ambition after defeating young Canadian hopeful Félix Auger-Aliassime ( 28e) 6-4, 6-3 in 1 hour 20 minutes.

Already winner in Marrakech mid-April, the Avignonnais, 51st World at 30, has brandished the third trophy of his career with Bastad in 2015, also on the ocher.

On Monday at the ATP rankings, Pair will go from 51st to 38th place, just ahead of his compatriot Richard Gasquet. "My goal is to continue to win matches to enter the top seeds at Wimbledon," said the player at a press conference.

But before that, he will play at Roland Garros with "the desire to do beautiful things". He will be opposed to the first round on Monday, the Romanian Marius Copil (81), "who plays super well". "It will not be easy," he conceded.

He then returned to his victory in Lyon: "Winning in France is something still above what I had known by imposing myself on Bastad or Marrakech."

"There's been a lot of criticism of me, since I started, about my behavior, such as getting angry, breaking rackets, or not being a tennis player. is that I won two titles in a few weeks, "he said.

"I'm very happy with what I'm doing right now, my character, I still have it, but we can evolve and channel ourselves," added the Avignonnais, who gained momentum throughout the week.

- Auger-Aliassime uncertain for Roland-Garros -

In front of him, Felix Auger-Aliassime admitted not having been in the best of shape, suffering from the left adductor, an injury that could make him miss Roland-Garros.

"It's too early to say, there are two days left, we are going to see with my team what we are doing, I can hardly finish the game today, it's a complicated situation suddenly arrived on Friday," said the Canadian, "very disappointed and very frustrated" at a press conference.

"I was physically impaired, I knew it since Friday and I tried to prepare myself as best I could, the pain increased and it became more difficult at the end of the first set," he admitted.

"But Benoît did a very good game, he surprised me on the way in. He made very few mistakes, served very well and went back, and every time I went to the net, he made me to play on the fly, a field where I have to progress like on other areas of play. He played a very complete tournament, "he said.

The 18-year-old Canadian lost his second final on the professional circuit after the one played in Rio in February.

? 2019 AFP