Felix Auger Aliassime

[robpal]

Wimbledon R3:

18 Stan Wawrinka 1715
19 Félix Auger-Aliassime 1715
20 Matteo Berrettini 1710

[Damian]

Auger-Aliassime Takes #NextGenATP Wimbledon Battle

Spoiler:

Medvedev, Goffin also advance to third round
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime persevered in an up-and-down #NextGenATP battle on Wednesday to advance to the third round at Wimbledon. The 18-year-old beat 20-year-old Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a matchup fans could see again at this year's Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held 5-9 November in Milan.
Auger-Aliassime, who's making his Wimbledon debut, broke five times to push past Moutet, who made the third round at Roland Garros.
“He's improved a lot. I played him last year in Lyon [ATP] Challenger, I won 6-2, 6-2. I felt this is a completely different player. I felt like I could have been more aggressive on my side, but I felt like just playing normal,” Auger-Aliassime said. “He was holding the ball well and moving it around and being very aggressive. Any time he had the chance, he came in quite a lot.

“In the end, I was able to maybe serve a little better and find a way to victory. That's positive.”
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The 19th-seeded Auger-Aliassime will next face another #NextGenATP Frenchman in Ugo Humbert, who beat Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-5. Humbert is through to his first third round at a Grand Slam and is also a favourite to play in Milan come November. The 21-year-old left-hander made the second round of the US Open last year (l. to Wawrinka).
Auger-Aliassime is in second place in the ATP Race To Milan, and Moutet is currently in the eighth position, with Humbert just behind in ninth. The top seven in the Race will automatically qualify for the 21-and-under event, with the eighth place reserved for an Italian wild card.
The Canadian has been picked by many to make a run at Wimbledon and potentially face World No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. But Auger-Aliassime said he's not letting the external pressure get to him.
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“I don't try to add extra pressure from the outside. I think I put extra pressure from myself already. Yeah, I'm sometimes hard on myself, but I think it's all normal. You have to learn how to deal with it. You can't escape it. You can't hide it. This is in your life and you learn how to deal with it,” Auger-Aliassime said.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/felix-a ... -wednesday

[arti]

[Kamileki]

Wimbledon19: pierwszy raz w III rundzie WS.

[19] Felix Auger-Aliassime d. [Q] Corentin Moutet 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2

[Razing]

[Damian]

Felix On Wimbledon Loss: 'The Pressure Got To Me'

Spoiler:

#NextGenATP Canadian reached the third round on his Wimbledon debut
Felix Auger-Aliassime began his run at Wimbledon having never completed a Grand Slam main draw match, even though he is No. 21 in the ATP Rankings. Yet after showing good form in his first two matches, the Canadian was favoured to reach the Round of 16 heading into his third-round match with fellow #NextGenATP player Ugo Humbert.

But the 18-year-old was unable to find his best tennis against the Frenchman, falling in straight sets.

“Pressure got to me, and… it got to a point where it was a bit embarrassing,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was just tough. I just wasn't finding ways. I think he just did what he had to do. It was solid.”

You May Also Like: Where Were Federer, Nadal, Djokovic & Murray At Felix's Age?
It wasn’t that Auger-Aliassime was struggling to find his level leading into the match. Despite this being his first professional grass-court season, the teen made the final at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart and the semi-finals of the Fever-Tree Championships at The Queen’s Club, where he was stopped by eventual champion Feliciano Lopez in three sets.

The No. 19 seed at SW19, Auger-Aliassime dropped a set against both Canadian Vasek Pospisil and another #NextGenATP Frenchman, Corentin Moutet, but he was never in serious trouble in either of those matches. He made 32 unforced errors against Humbert.

“Everything was fine. I mean, you never know once you step on court,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I started okay, with the right intentions. And then, I don't know… Today, it's weird to describe.”

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Auger-Aliassime appeared to have turned the tide when he took a 5-2 lead in the second set and served to even the match. But suddenly he threw in some uncharacteristic errors, and that was the only opening Humbert needed. The Canadian didn’t think that was the only moment that cost him the match, though. Credit also goes to Humbert for never giving Felix another opening.

“The first set was pretty bad itself,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I felt like the whole match was a turning point.”

Although Auger-Aliassime may be disappointed not to reach the second week of a major for the first time, there are still positives to take from his efforts; winning his first two Grand Slam matches, for one. This time last year, he was not even competing at Wimbledon, ranked No. 152 at the time.

Auger-Aliassime

And some of the best players in the world have taken notice of the #NextGenATP star. Although Humbert will be facing Novak Djokovic, not Auger-Aliassime, the World No. 1 and four-time champion has certainly had his eyes on Felix.

“He's very impressive in many aspects. He's very mature for his age. Very, very nice guy. Good manners. Respectful. Wants to learn. He's very dedicated,” Djokovic said. “He's probably the one that I like the most from the young generation as a tennis player and as a person, I think. All the superlatives for him definitely. He's been impressive this year, everything he has done. Still a teenager, but he's one of the best players in the world. If you see the results from this year, he's one of the most consistent players.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/auger-a ... 9-reaction

[Kamileki]

[Damian]

Felix Breaks Through Just In Time Against Opelka

Spoiler:

Canadian to face Cilic in R3
#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime reached his second hard-court quarter-final of the season on Wednesday, beating 6'11” Reilly Opelka of the U.S. 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.

The winner of each set didn't face a break point in the set, with Auger-Aliassime breaking Opelka in the 10th game of the third. Opelka saved one match point at 4-5, 30/40 with a bouncy second serve.

But, on his second match point, Auger-Aliassime got a racquet on a first serve, and Opelka dumped a tight backhand into the net. Auger-Aliassime won 89 per cent of his first-serve points (42/47).

Auger-Aliassime and Opelka Washington 2019

“He was serving unbelievable. I even moved my position. I was trying to mix up the positions. Every time I was getting aced at the same spot. It was just so frustrating. How did he manage to ace me on that same line again every time?” Auger-Aliassime said. “Again, I had to deal with it. I was able to come back well in the third set. [There are] frustrating moments in a tennis match, but that's how it is.”

The 18-year-old Canadian will next meet sixth seed Marin Cilic, who's looking to make his second quarter-final of the season (Madrid, w/o to Djokovic).

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/auger-a ... -wednesday

[Kamileki]

[Damian]

Felix On Cilic Loss: 'I Couldn't Figure It Out'

Spoiler:

#NextGenATP Canadian reflects on defeat in Washington, D.C.
Some days you play your best tennis, and other days you need to try to find ways to win without your top level. #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime battled hard on Thursday, but ultimately fell short of a solution against sixth seed Marin Cilic at the Citi Open.
“I don't know what it was, but I couldn't figure it out,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was just really tough out there today, in every way. I just felt like I couldn't even play close to what I'm able to.”
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The double fault proved the 18-year-old’s bugaboo against the Croat veteran — Auger-Aliassime’s double fault on match point was his 11th of the match. But instead of dwelling on his performance, the Canadian wants to use this moment to his advantage moving forward.
“I'm going to go back to training, and that's just how I'm going to live with it,” Auger-Aliassime said. “There's not much I can do anymore except going back to training, try to improve, and that's what I will try to do.”
It’s not as if Auger-Aliassime is mired in a slump, either. He defeated in-form American Reilly Opelka in the second round, holds a 12-5 record in his past five tournaments, and a 29-16 tally on the year. The teen owned only six tour-level wins prior to 2019.
“Every loss for sure is an opportunity to improve,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Today has shown that I need to improve a lot of things still, but I'll just take the days that I have before Rogers Cup to see what I can work on before starting there.”
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Auger-Aliassime was not blown off the court, either. He battled hard and showed flashes of brilliance, including a one-handed backhand flick that brought roars from the crowd. At 4-4 in the second set, he earned a break point that would have allowed him to force a decider. But it was not to be.
“It's not always easy. Today was a very tough day for me, but I tried to bring the best of me,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Sometimes I'm not proud of myself with what I'm doing, but I try to do whatever I can. In a way I was able to do that. I had a brief point at 4-All where it could have turned my way. But for sure I'm going to fight to earn what I want.”
It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Auger-Aliassime, who has climbed from outside the Top 100 in the ATP Rankings at the start of the year as high as World No. 21. And now, the Canadian will take his momentum home to the Coupe Rogers, where he will compete in front of the Montreal fans for the first time. Although Auger-Aliassime is excited for that, he knows he needs to remain focussed like he would for any other tournament.
“I don't have to change my routine because of that. It is a big tournament, but it's a tournament like all the other ones. There's matches to play,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I have to prepare. I have to do my routines. That doesn't change. I think I will go out there and keep doing what I'm doing, but with for sure a bit of adjustments to not lose too much energy outside of the court."

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[Kamileki]

[Damian]

Felix On Budding Canadian Rivalries: 'We're Not At War Here'

Spoiler:

The teen could face a fellow Canadian in each of the first two rounds in Montreal
#NextGenATP Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime arrived on site for his first practice at this year’s Coupe Rogers on Friday evening. The 18-year-old did not expect any fans to be there with qualifying yet to begin.

“It was full, and everybody was happy to come watch me practise. That’s a different feeling. I’d be lying if I said that I’m going on the court and it just feels like any other tournament,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It feels special. Hopefully I can use that energy and that support in a good way.”

This will be the World No. 22’s first time competing at the Canadian ATP Masters 1000 tournament when it’s been held in his birthplace: Montreal. Auger-Aliassime debuted in the main draw last year in Toronto.

But Felix is not the same player he was then. At 17, he was a wild card ranked World No. 133. Auger-Aliassime lost in a final-set tie-break in the second round against current Top 10 star Daniil Medvedev.

This year, Auger-Aliassime could potentially become the Canadian No. 1 with a strong performance at his home Masters 1000 tournament. Prior to this season, he owned just six tour-level wins. He has 29 already in 2019, including trips to his first three ATP Tour finals and the semi-finals of the Miami Open presented by Itau. Auger-Aliassime was already a hot commodity in Toronto last year, and that’s only increased over the past 52 weeks.

“For sure the trap is that there’s a lot of attention and I’m going to put maybe more pressure on myself,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I think you have to put that aside and like every other tournament, try and focus as much as I can on what I have to do prior to my first round and then the rest of the week.”


There will always be an electric crowd in Canada whenever Auger-Aliassime competes on home soil. But that will be the case even moreso when he faces countryman Vasek Pospisil, a former Montreal semi-finalist, in the first round. Auger-Aliassime leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, including a victory at Wimbledon this year.

“I just laughed. I saw it coming. I was talking with my physio earlier that day and I was like, ‘I think something’s going to happen. I’m going to play Denis or Vasek.’ I felt like something was going to happen and it did,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Honestly, no big reaction. That’s just how it is. We’re good friends, we get along well, but once we step on court we’re going to compete at our best like we did at Wimbledon and we’ll see who the winner is. But I think we’re good competitors and we’re good people, so we’re able to put our friendship aside for the time of the match and just compete at our best.”

Another #NextGenATP Canadian who will be under the spotlight is Denis Shapovalov, who went on a magical run in Montreal two years ago, defeating Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to his first Masters 1000 semi-final. A reporter asked Auger-Aliassime if the nature of this event will alter the pair’s friendship at all this week, and the teen said there was no chance of that happening.

“I’m going to ignore him. No, come on, it’s not like that. We’re not at war here. It’s cool. We talk normally. Even with Vasek, I texted him yesterday. When we saw the draw, we just laughed, like how crazy was that? But once we step on court, then we forget friendship, we just play our match,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But my friendship with Denis hasn’t changed and it’s not going to change because of this week, because of any week. I think that’s two completely different things. There’s the friendship outside the court and there’s the competition. That’s for sure not going to change anything.”


Auger-Aliassime is adamant that he does not want to look too far ahead. But if he defeats Pospisil, he could potentially face former World No. 3 and Montreal finalist Milos Raonic, who faces Lucas Pouille, in the second round.

“For sure that’s crazy. If Vasek wins, it’s going to be the same thing. He’s going to play another Canadian in the second round,” Auger-Aliassime said. “That’s like Indian Wells last year. It’s pretty crazy that it has to happen here in Montreal.”

After Auger-Aliassime ousted Pospisil at last year’s BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, he fell in straight sets against Raonic. But the veteran has seen Felix develop in the past year, watching his game develop as his countryman’s ATP Ranking has ballooned as high as No. 21.

“I think it’s just consistency. Last year when we practised, he’d always be able to play at a really high level and then there’d be a game each set… where he’d just sort of spray a few balls and lose the handles of it a little bit for a moment. I think that’s the biggest thing that’s changed, he doesn’t really have those little spurts anymore,” Raonic said. “Obviously physically, he’s incredibly developed for a guy of his age. I think he’s really mature in that way and the way he approaches his tennis. But I think it’s just those spurts, that he minimised them. And when they do happen, I think they happen for much shorter periods of time.

“I think when you play the way he does, aggressively, he does a lot of things well, you just keep constantly putting pressure on your opponent and that creates some openings for himself.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/auger-a ... ew-feature

[Damian]

Felix Auger-Aliassime notched his 36th career match win on Tuesday at the Coupe Rogers, and nearly 10 per cent of those wins have come against his Montreal opponent, countryman Vasek Pospisil.

The 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who has a birthday on Thursday, fought off nerves and fed off his home crowd to advance 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-6(3) against the 29-year-old Pospisil, who's still on the comeback from January back surgery.

Neither player faced a break point in the decider, but Auger-Aliassime gained momentum after overcoming a 0/30 deficit at 4-4 in the final set. He ran away in the tie-break, improving to 2-1 in Canada when Pospisil lifted a forehand long.

The #NextGenATP Canadian will next meet Canada's No. 1 Milos Raonic, who reached the 2013 Montreal final. Auger-Aliassime is currently in 11th place in the ATP Race To London. The top eight will qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/felix-a ... 19-tuesday

[Damian]

[Damian]

Felix Auger-Aliassime notched his 36th career match win on Tuesday at the Coupe Rogers, and nearly 10 per cent of those wins have come against his Montreal opponent, countryman Vasek Pospisil.

The 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who has a birthday on Thursday, fought off nerves and fed off his home crowd to advance 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-6(3) against the 29-year-old Pospisil, who's still on the comeback from January back surgery.

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Neither player faced a break point in the decider, but Auger-Aliassime gained momentum after overcoming a 0/30 deficit at 4-4 in the final set. He ran away in the tie-break, improving to 2-1 in Canada when Pospisil lifted a forehand long.

“Losing those two next points, probably the match would have been over. What else can you do than just give it all? I tried to find a good first serve, play to win. That's what I was able to do,” Auger-Aliassime said.

“When your back is against the wall, you usually show up with something good. I think in any case in life, that's what you do. If you look at a lot of players, especially great players, whenever they need to, they usually play good points, serve well. I think I found that extra energy in me to serve well those four points and get that game.”

The #NextGenATP Canadian will next meet Canada's No. 1 Milos Raonic, who reached the 2013 Montreal final. Raonic won their only prior meeting at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

“Even if I look at myself physically back then, I changed a lot. Mentally, as well. For sure I have the confidence that I can win against these types of players. I'm not as nervous stepping on these big courts. That's also a big change,” Auger-Aliassime said.

“I think the overall trust in my game is much more different than before. I think overall everything in my game has improved, from the groundstrokes, my return, my serve.”

Auger-Aliassime is currently in 11th place in the ATP Race To London. The top eight will qualify for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/felix-a ... 19-tuesday

[Kamileki]

[Damian]

What Does Victorious Felix Really Want? A Birthday Cake Like Federer's

Spoiler:

Teenager turns 19 on Thursday
The crowd wanted more, but Milos Raonic's back felt otherwise. The No. 1 Canadian had to retire after evening his second-round match at the Coupe Rogers against countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday night because of persistent back pain.

"I felt generally sore in my back before the match started, but it wasn't something I was too concerned about. It started going down my leg pretty early into one of my service games," Raonic said. "The last 30 minutes of that match, just because of the situation we're playing in, being prime time night match here in Montreal, were probably the least enjoyable 30 minutes I've spent on a tennis court."

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Auger-Aliassime broke in the fourth game of the opener, but Raonic raised his level in the second and held to love to wrap up the set. The 28-year-old, however, who's been prone to injuries throughout his career, saw the trainer and a doctor during the second set and promptly retired after his service game.

"It was tough to see Milos' face. He's a good friend of mine. I remember when we crossed after the second set, I could feel he was pretty sad about something. It wasn't fun to see him like that," Auger-Aliassime said. "At the end of the day I wish it's not too bad because it's tough to see him go out like that."

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The Canadians were playing in front of a packed house on Court Central in Montreal as their match gained top billing in Auger-Aliassime's hometown. The 18-year-old, who turns 19 on Thursday and shares a birthday with Roger Federer, is through to the third round at his home ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time. Auger-Aliassime doesn't have any big plans for his birthday, but he wouldn't mind a cake like Federer had in Montreal years ago.

"Whether it is my birthday or not, it doesn't change the preparation for my match. Of course, it would be a beautiful gift for me to be able to go to the quarter-finals," Auger-Aliassime said. "I have a memory when I was a kid that there was a cake for Federer, because it was his birthday. It's the same date for me. I thought, 'Well, I would love to play on centre court and have a cake on centre court.' When you're eight years old, it seems incredible to get a cake on centre court.""If I give him time to get behind the ball and dictate the points, it's going to be tough for me," Auger-Aliassime said. "The main challenge here is to dictate the points from the first few balls, from the serve, the ball after, and on the return like I did today in the first set. I think the two first matches prepared me well for the type of player I'm going to play tomorrow. If I can do the right things on my side again, it's going to help a lot."

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[DUN I LOVE]

Sto lat Felix!

[Damian]

[Damian]