Felix Auger-Aliassime says he has never doubted his ability as a player during what has been a difficult past couple of months on the Tour for him.
The world No.14 comes into the Western and Southern Open intending to try to win back-to-back matches at the same tournament for the first time since March. The 23-year-old has been troubled by a knee injury, illness and disappointing first round exits from his last two Grand Slam tournaments. Last week at the Canadian Masters he lost his opening match to Australia’s Max Purcell in what was his fourth consecutive loss on the Tour.
Aliassime ended his losing run on Monday in Cincinnati where he recorded a convincing 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, win over former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini. Another player whose progress in the sport in recent months has been marred by injury. The Canadian hit 26 winners and won 83% of his first service points.
“I never doubted my abilities or the player I am. I think I have proven to myself and others that I’m among the best players in the world in the past,” he said afterwards.
“This year has been challenging due to different reasons. The knee injury that lasted very long kept me on the sideline and also just not playing with the intensity and the level that I can play and that I should play.’
“Since I came back on the hard court swing I felt much better. I just needed to accept, okay, I lost two matches in a row. Not the comeback I was hoping for, but now it’s my third week back since this kind of injury, and it’s nice to get a win finally.”
Aliassime explains that keeping level-headed during times when things have not gone his way has been crucial in helping him bounce back. He was ranked as high as sixth in the world last year and has won four ATP titles. Two of those title triumphs occurred at the end of last season.
“I try to stay positive and accept the challenge or the adversity. Whether it’s coming from an injury, from losses, from personal reasons or whatever. I try to do the best what I control.” He explained.
“Try to learn from losses, see what’s working well in practice and focus on that. I try to not also always look at what’s not going well but also think what had me winning these last few years.”
The hope for Aliassime is that he can build on his recent win to put him on good footing heading into the US Open which will begin on August 28th. He suffered a second round loss in New York last year in what was his earliest exit from the tournament since 2019.
Seeded 12th in Cincinnati this week, Aliassime will play France’s Adrian Mannarino in his next match.
