Sports Pundit spoke to Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime before he gets his campaign underway at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Trofeo Conde de Godo.
When did you decide that you wanted to be a professional tennis player?
“I always wanted to be a professional tennis player; this is my dream since I am a kid. I started playing tennis when I was four years old, and I remember watching my father and my sister playing; I wanted to be on court with them.When I won the Auray Super 12 tournament in France in 2012, I knew that with a lot of hard work I could make my dream come true.”
The NextGenATP player appointed Toni Nadal as his coach ahead of the clay-court season, which started in Monte Carlo last week.
Regarding your partnership with Toni Nadal, in which aspects is your team focussing on to help you improve your game on the clay surface?
“We focus on many aspects as I know I have to improve my game on clay! Toni gives me good advice; he has such a great experience. Toni and Frederic Fontang know how to talk to me, we work a lot, and I am sure this will pay.”
Fontang is Auger-Aliassime’s longtime coach, while Nadal embodies the mentor role on the Canadian’s team.
What has been the best experience of your professional career so far?
“I couldn’t name one particular moment I’m most proud of. I’ve had successes and setbacks, but what I’m most proud of is never giving up even when its hard, and continuing to work, day in and day out, to achieve my goals.”
The 20-year-old became the youngest ATP 500 finalist (18) in the series history (since 2009) at the 2019 Rio de Janeiro Open, a tournament he entered with a wild card, ranked No. 104 in the world.
That same year, he would crack the Top 20 in the FedEx ATP Rankings.
The Montreal native has reached seven ATP Tour finals since he turned pro back in 2017, being the most recent one at the Murray River Open staged in Melbourne early on February 2021.
He faced Daniel Evans, who prevailed over the ranked 20th in the world, to capture his first ATP Tour title on the hardcourt surface event.
As a professional athlete, how do you prepare mentally ahead of any match?
“I’m not particularly superstitious, but I usually keep the same ritual before my matches to stay as focused as possible. For example, I talk to my coach, and then I take a moment to myself to mentally rehearse my game plan.”
What are your expectations for the Barcelona Open?
“Each tournament is an opportunity to win more matches and improve my game. I am quite happy to be in Barcelona, this is a nice tournament, and I feel good here. It is great to see some fans by the courts; this gives me more motivation!”
Auger-Aliassime is the tenth seed and will meet wild card Lorenzo Musetti in the second round of the event on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the 19-year-old beat Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-3.
In 2021, the Italian reached the semifinals of the 2021 Mexican Open - which he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
On his way, he claimed his first Top 10 upset against world number nine Diego Schwartzman.
The Italian player and Auger-Aliassime have never faced off against each other in their careers before.
BARCELONA OPEN 2021
The 2021 Barcelona Open is held from 19-25 April at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899, contested on outdoor clay courts.
The ATP 500 event was last held in 2019, when Dominic Thiem - who will not be present as he recovers from injury, lifted the trophy.
In 2020, the tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic to return in 2021 with a new edition and 11-time Barcelona Open champion Rafael Nadal as first seeded.
As part of a stellar field are 2021 Monte Carlo Masters finalists, Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev, as Auger-Aliassime countryman Denis Shapovalov.