A smooth serve Félix Auger-Aliassime downed Quentin Helis in Marseille.

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Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the second round of the Open 13 Provence tennis tournament with a 6-2, 7-5 win over French wild-card Quentin Halis on Wednesday.

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Montreal's Auger-Aliassime, who finished seventh in Marseille, was excellent on serve. He won 80 percent of his service points, including an impressive 93 percent (27 of 29) on the first serve.

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“I think I started the perfect way, hit the target, was aggressive, left it defensively and without a lot of time,” Auger-Aliassime said. “So it was a great start, and then he served too well in the second set, and I was wrong twice.

“I tried to put pressure on him every second serve (to return). I think I played a very complete match.”

Halis served 10 aces in the match, while Auger-Aliassime served eight aces. But while the Frenchman showed he could handle the Canadian's power, he was a distant second in converting just 56 percent of his service points.

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Auger-Aliassime saved the only break point she faced while trading three of five break points against Halis.

The world No. 28, a two-time finalist in Marseille, improved her career record at the tournament to 8-3.

“I like to play well here. I have great memories,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Twice a finalist, so I won some matches here, but I didn't go all the way. Let's see if I can make another final here, but the week is very young and there is still a lot of tennis to be played.”

Auger-Aliassime, who reached the semi-finals last week in Montpellier, France, will face world number 50 Zhang Zhizhen of China in the second round.

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