Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Valentin Vacherot Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Vacherot to continue insane Masters 1000 run

It's been one of the most extraordinary months of all time for Vacherot - he's gone from outside the world's top 200 to inside the top 30 in the live rankings, surging to the Shanghai Masters title as a qualifying alternate (beating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final no less) and then backing it up with a run to the quarter-finals in Paris (defeating his cousin again). All of a sudden, Vacherot is just three wins away from consecutive Masters 1000 titles, while an Australian Open seeding is now a very realistic possibility. Additionally, only Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have a better winning percentage in Masters 1000 history than Vacherot at the moment (minimum 10 matches).

Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime has battled bravely to keep his ATP Finals hopes alive this week in Paris, coming from a set down in all three of his matches to make the last eight. The Canadian is clearly struggling physically, but with Turin in his sights, he's fighting on. I'm going to back another long match here for Auger-Aliassime, but Vacherot is in a special zone right now and he looks the value bet as the underdog.

This will be the first career meeting between the pair.

It's been an outstanding year for Auger-Aliassime - he's registered a 46-21 record, winning three ATP titles and rising back into the world's top 10 after falling to No. 30 in May.

Auger-Aliassime has secured the silverware in Adelaide, Montpellier and in Brussels earlier this indoor swing, while he was also a runner-up in Dubai.

Furthermore, Auger-Aliassime defeated the likes of Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur to reach the US Open semi-finals.

Those results have contributed to Auger-Aliassime currently residing in ninth place in the ATP Race to Turin. The Canadian can leapfrog Lorenzo Musetti into eighth spot if he makes the final in Paris and secure qualification by winning the title.

Auger-Aliassime has produced spirited comebacks in all of his matches this week in the French capital, coming from a set down to beat Francisco Comesana, Alexander Muller and Daniel Altmaier.

What more can you say about Vacherot at this point? The Monegasque player has a 15-3 record at tour-level this season and has won 12 of his last 13 matches against higher-ranked opponents.

If you include qualifying at Shanghai, the 26-year-old has won 12 consecutive matches at Masters 1000 level, propelling himself from No. 204 in the world to a current live ranking of No. 30. One more win in Paris and he'll rise to No. 24 and if the unthinkable happens and he wins the title, it will be the top 20.

Vacherot beat the likes of Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune to reign supreme in Shanghai and he's continued his fine form in Paris, crushing Jiri Lehecka in straight sets before once again taking out cousin Rinderknech in three.

Backing up from that three-hour marathon, Vacherot showed no signs of fatigue as he took out Cameron Norrie 7-6 6-4 in the R16.