LONDON | Yes, the left knee injury that bothers Félix Auger-Aliassime hurt him in his first-round loss at Wimbledon, Monday. But it’s not just that, confirms his trainer, Frédéric Fontang: Félix must also “regain confidence, adjust his game”.
The Quebecer therefore has two issues at the moment. He must first cure this famous tendinopathy in the left knee which has been bothering him for several months.
A pain that comes and goes, but has started to handicap the 11 againe favorite in the third set on Monday, when he faced the American “lucky loser” Michael Mmoh, 119e (to whom he lost 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) and 6-4), mentioned Fontang.
This process, it will take the time it will take, says the “FAA” coach, but he is on the right track, he also assures.
In Washington instead of Toronto?
Moreover, if Félix said on Monday that he was aiming for a potential return to competition at the Toronto Masters in early August, the Frenchman rather mentioned to the Log the possibility that his protege will return to play in Washington a week earlier.
“All this is new for Félix, but also for his team, underlines Fontang. And there is a this end of the year, where he played a lot and won a lot [trois titres] in a row. There was also the end-of-season Masters, the Davis Cup… It’s a lot of matches, a lot of intensity. At one point, the body said stop.
Only one victory in five games
The second problem is that Auger-Aliassime has played little – and also won little – in recent months. Since the Miami tournament in March, the last he played before his knee began to hurt him, on the 12e world has won only one match out of the five he has played.
It was on clay in Lyon, against the 240e player on the ATP, the Spaniard Pablo Llamas Ruiz.
Félix Auger-Aliassime during his loss to Dusan Lajovic on his return to action at the Madrid Masters.
Photo: AFP
Against Mmoh, it seemed obvious that, at times, the Quebecer struggled to perform certain movements. “Clay and grass are the two worst surfaces for a knee,” Fontang pointed out.
Regain confidence in your game
But often, despite being so devoted to his cause on this short 12, we saw Auger-Aliassime take long breaths before serving, especially during crucial points. He let several of them slip away, including in the tiebreaker of the third set which he led easily.
Then there were these double faults – eight in total – including the one that ultimately showed him the way out, when he had a match point against him.
“Even though he didn’t have that knee problem, not having won a lot since Miami, not having played on grass, he goes through a normal process, which is to win back first games, then seconds, to regain confidence,” says Fontang.
“But at least, he adds, we will have this training period and the rest of the season will be played on the same surface, on hard ground.”
The desire to always progress
Monday, visibly dejected after his defeat, Felix said he was going through “a difficult period in his young career”, but was “convinced that the results will come back”.
Frédéric Fontang agrees with the results: “Félix remains in a good state of mind. It’s part of the process of being a top athlete. There is this desire in him to always progress and at some point, it will have its effect.