Felix Auger-Aliassime got off to a strong start to his season in Australia, where he reached his seventh ATP Tour final at the Murray River Open and made the fourth round of the Australian Open. The #NextGenATP Canadian is looking forward to maintaining his momentum at this week’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
“I’m feeling good. It was a great start for me,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Nothing is always perfect, but it’s really close to what I was hoping for and what I trained for and what I was expecting from myself.”
The 20-year-old was unable to capture his first ATP Tour title in Melbourne, falling short against Daniel Evans. But Auger-Aliassime looks at the glass as half-full, not half-empty.
“I have to play a good match in one of the next finals I will play. To be honest, it’s not a big worry for me. Seven finals at my age is already great. It’s great for my future,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I’m still building the game that I want to play in future years and the main objective is to play well one day in the Grand Slams and reach finals there and win Grand Slam titles. Along the way I’ll win some finals, I’ll lose some, this is my story and that’s okay.”
One of the championship matches Auger-Aliassime reached came last year in Rotterdam. Then a teen, he defeated 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov and former World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta en route to the final. Arriving in The Netherlands has brought back good memories.
"It’s good vibes here for me. I had great success last year, I played great tennis. I loved the atmosphere of the fans here last year. Unluckily this year it’s different circumstances, but it’s still good to come back to a place where you’ve played well,” said Auger-Aliassime, who will play former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the first round. “As a player that’s always a good feeling and then you have your favourite spots on the Tour and Rotterdam is one of mine.”
Auger-Aliassime has worked hard to continue developing his game for the long term. Last off-season, the Canadian spent time in Mallorca at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar, where he learned from Nadal’s uncle, Toni Nadal.
“He helped me last winter and we’re still in contact. He gives me good advice and it was good to have a chance to be on court with him and he would give me instant feedback on my shots and on my movement and how I could play,” Auger-Aliassime said. “[We would] talk about other players, talk about of course his nephew, the experience he had with him. There are a lot of things that I could learn from him and I think his advice just brings me a lot of conviction and confidence in myself."
Before the season, Felix revealed that his goals for 2021 are to crack the Top 10 of the FedEx ATP Rankings and qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. The #NextGenATP star said Sunday that he is still pursuing those goals, and is happy with his progress.
“I’m [heading] in a good direction,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Things are going well and here I am in Rotterdam now having played well at the start of the year, having played well here last year. I feel good about my chances and I feel good about my game.”
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3sAL1hQ
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