Félix Auger-Aliassime | Body and soul in Paris

There are two schools of thought when it comes to analyzing Félix Auger-Aliassime’s season.

From the optimists’ point of view, Auger-Aliassime is making progress. He went from 29^e at 18^e world ranking since January, he reached the final of the Masters 1000 in Madrid and has a winning record of 20 wins and 15 losses this year.

From the perspective of the pessimists, Auger-Aliassime is regressing. He is 1700 ranking points away from a place in the top 10he has lost six of his last seven clashes against players from this elite group and is coming off a first-round loss at Wimbledon.

How then can we explain this sudden polarisation of opinions towards a player who has been unanimously popular since his arrival in the public eye?

“It’s the flaw that we have as humans. Our brain retains more negative things,” responds The Press the main person concerned leaves his hotel room in Gstaad, Switzerland. It is around 9:30 p.m. He was there to finalize the final preparations for the Paris Olympics.

The 23-year-old refuses to back down, however. “I understand the criticism, honestly. I don’t really have a problem with it. What I don’t like is criticism where people don’t bring anything concrete or they don’t really bring a solution.”

Auger-Aliassime admits that he has always played without being able to ignore the expectations placed on him. For better or for worse. “Since I was 14, I have been among the best players of my generation or, at the very least, I am within the standards of the best players in the world. That has set very high ambitions, very high expectations.

– Too high?

“I don’t know, time will tell,” he replied after a few seconds of reflection. “Because more than ever, I am in a state of mind where I would have liked certain things to happen differently.”

He is referring here to his winning streak in the fall of 2022, when he won three tournaments in a row in addition to shining at the Davis Cup. A wave he would have liked to surf in 2023.

Since then, rivals in the same age group have caught up with him and overtaken him. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the top of the list. But in reality, Auger-Aliassime is playing well in 2024. And he is convinced of it.

The fact remains that without a permanent place in the top 10 or without a major title in his pocket, the critics will remain. If pressure is a privilege, as Billie Jean King has already noted, the Quebecer expects to be privileged for a long time. But he will accept pressure only from those who can help him climb the ladder.

“For my part, I don’t enjoy criticizing jobs that I don’t do. I don’t try to tell people how to do things if I don’t do them. But if I talk to someone else about tennis, because it’s probably the thing I know best, I can give constructive criticism or advice. But gratuitous criticism, without any real examples or foundations, is not something I’m really a fan of,” he says.

Olympic Revenge

At his first Olympic Games, in Tokyo in 2021, Auger-Aliassime was knocked out in the first round by Australian Max Purcell. He was 20 years old at the time.

Canada’s hopes will still rest on him in Paris. He will be joined by Milos Raonic to defend the honour of the maple leaf in the men’s draw.

It will be a return to the clay courts of Roland-Garros for the Quebecer, after reaching the fourth round in Paris a few weeks ago.

“For me, it has a lot of weight,” he explains. “I’m preparing for this tournament the same way I prepare for all the big tournaments. So I’m putting everything in place to try to be in shape and play well.”

For tennis players, the Olympic parenthesis evokes something different compared to the majority of athletes, believes the Quebecer. Without wishing to speak on behalf of his colleagues and rivals of the ATP, he specifies that “as a child, the dream was to win a Grand Slam.”

Unlike Auger-Aliassime, most amateur athletes are not in the spotlight four times a year in major tournaments or nine times in the Masters 1000. The Olympic tournament is another tournament. No the only.

He will still give it his all. His preparation is optimal, because “winning the Games would be as emotional for me as winning a Grand Slam,” he believes, without yet being able to speak with full knowledge of the facts.

The Alcaraz phenomenon

It can be tricky trying to extract honest comments about their rivals from the mouths of professional athletes. It was impossible during the interview with the 18^e world champion not to mention the current domination of Carlos Alcaraz, the most recent champion of Roland-Garros and Wimbledon and the recent conqueror of Auger-Aliassime in France.

He feels “respect” for Alcaraz, more than admiration. “He is a genius in his field,” he argues.

The two young players have faced each other six times as professionals. Alcaraz has had the better of them the last three times. “A lot of players have been precocious and good at a young age and have had difficulties, have had challenges, but he, it’s like he’s always able to respond. He manages to win all the important matches. I don’t think you can teach that to just anyone.”

Statistically, the Spaniard is ahead of the Quebecer despite the two years he concedes to him. Auger-Aliassime is nevertheless convinced that he can catch up with his rival. Or, at least, that he will be able to not let him slip away too easily.

Now, with Alcaraz already holding four major titles and five Masters 1000 triumphs, Auger-Aliassime still has to look in the mirror to figure out how to once again become a threat to the 21-year-old and the other players ahead of him in the rankings.

“Do I need to work better? Do I need to be more precise in what I do? Do I need to push a little further? Do I need to suffer a little more?”

The only question he is certain he has the right answer to as he approaches his departure for the world’s greatest sporting event is: “Will I manage to tick all the boxes and win everything I dream of winning?”

“I believe it deep down.”