Many knew that Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime was a rising star on the men’s tour, but few predicted him to rise up the ranks so quickly.
Starting the season at 106th in the world, the 18-year-old is now sitting in 33rd position following a series of breakthroughs on the tour. The ball started rolling on the South American clay where Auger-Aliassime reached the final of the Rio Open in Brazil. Becoming the youngest player ever to reach the final of an ATP 500 tournament. Heading to North America shortly afterwards, Auger-Aliassime scored his first ever top 10 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Indian Wells.
“At the start of the year, you never know what to expect, but I was doing some good things in training and I was playing well,” Auger-Aliassime said during a press conference on Tuesday. “Sometimes, things fall in place like a puzzle and that’s what happened in South America.”
It was at the Miami Masters where the Next Gen star achieved the biggest milestone in his career yet. Coming through two rounds of qualifying, he stunned the men’s draw by reaching the semi-finals. Becoming the youngest player in the history of the tournament to do so. His run was ended by former champion John Isner.
“The importance of the match kind of hit me psychologically,” he reflected about his match against Isner. “It shows I have room to improve, and I make errors — I’m human.”
The best way to illustrate the kind of season the Canadian is having is by looking at his earnings. So far in his career, Auger-Aliassime has earned $1,020,114 in prize money. 62% of that amount ($633,999) has been earned during the first three months of 2019.
As a result of his recent success, Auger-Aliassime has secured direct entry into the upcoming French Open in what will be only his second grand slam main draw appearance. Not only that, he is also likely to be seeded. At the time of the French Open last year, he was ranked outside of the world’s top 150.
“Where I am now, with the confidence I have, I go into every tournament believing I can win and go all the way.”
Despite his ranking, it is still up in the air if Auger-Aliassime will automatically play in the main draw at his next tournament – the Monte Carlo Masters. The entries are based on the ranking six weeks prior to the event. Meaning the teenager required a wildcard. Otherwise, he will have to go through qualifying. On the other hand, the Madrid Masters have already awarded Auger-Aliassime a wildcard for their tournament in May.
“I got a wild-card there last year and I hope to get one this year. But if I don’t, I’ll play the qualifying,” he said.
Whilst on the right trajectory, Auger-Aliassime admits that he still has a long way to go to achieve his ultimate goal. Following in the footpath of his idol Roger Federer, who recently paid tribute to him.
“The biggest achievement is to be first in the world,” he said. “I’m on the right track, but there are a lot of young players, playing well. The ultimate dream is to win a Grand Slam and be number one.”
Full press conference (in French/English)
We are LIVE with @felixtennis, who's back in Montreal for the first time since his semi-final run at the #MiamiOpen.
Nous sommes LIVE avec Félix qui est de retour à Montréal pour la première fois depuis sa demi-finale au @MiamiOpen. https://t.co/Gdz4MPFQr3
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) April 2, 2019
