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At age 20, Felix Auger-Aliassime will play this Wednesday in Wimbledon the first quarterfinals of Grand Slam of his career. To get there, however, the Canadian had to undertake a climb to the Everest which is not over yet, far from it: Auger-Alissime has lost the eight finals he has played on the circuit (eight!), possibly chained to the expectations he generated from the age of 14, when he was a kid who ate a snack at rivals much older than him. The leap to the elite, of course, slowed down the brilliant progression of the tennis player, who has had no choice but to accept it and work hard to get into the position he was looking for.
“It’s the best victory of my career,” the Canadian managed to say on Monday after knocking down Alexander Zverev in five sets, for which he needed 4h02m. “It is a great achievement in my career. You want to do well in the big tournaments, and more so in Wimbledon,” continued Auger-Aliassime, who will meet Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semi-finals. “It’s great because I have a lot of support behind me and I’ve received a lot of messages from people who have helped me get here. That means a lot. I feel like I’m giving some of their help back.”
Before starting the European clay court tour, Auger-Aliassime announced that he was starting to work with Toni Nadal, uncle and former technician of Rafael Nadal. The relationship was born during the 2021 preseason, when the Canadian spent a few days training in the Rafa Nadal Academy.
Toni Nadal, during his time as Rafa Nadal’s coach
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There the foundations were laid for a collaboration that returned the Mallorcan to the circuit, but on a different bench than the one he had occupied all his life. Thus, Nadal adapted the position of advisor, traveling to some tournaments to try to contribute the experience accumulated after traveling for a lifetime with one of the best players in history.
Although Auger-Aliassime lived that clay tour from bad drink to bad drink (four defeats first in Montecarlo, Madrid, Lyon Y Roland Garros; the quarterfinals of Barcelona best result), the Canadian transformed by stepping on the grass and changing surfaces. Consequently, he reached the final in Stuttgart (lost with Marin Cilic), defeated Roger Federer on Halle to finish reaching the semifinals of the tournament and started Wimbledon brimming with confidence.
Now he assaults the quarterfinals aware that it is his first great chance to make a mark, but calm because if nothing goes wrong, many more should arrive.
[Más información – Bronca en Wimbledon: del “¿sabes que miente?” al “es la tenista con el peor comportamiento de todas”]
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