Felix: 'The work that we've done is paying off'

The Felix Auger-Aliassime train is beginning to pick up steam.

The Canadian did not compete in singles at the United Cup as he was trying to recover his fitness from a knee injury. When he returned to singles action in Auckland, the 23-year-old lost in his opening match in straight sets to Daniel Altmaier.

But after two wins at the Australian Open, Auger-Aliassime is finding his game.

“I didn't have really expectations. Actually more just a desire to compete well, to play better than I've played recently. Of course, actually I've played good recently, at the end of the year in Basel and all that,” Auger-Aliassime told ATPTour.com. “I had the belief that if my fitness level was to come back to a good level, the tennis was going to come back sooner than later. It's not like even past years where I made quarter-finals here. I had many struggles in early rounds.”

The five-time ATP Tour titlist views his first two matches at Melbourne Park as a “positive start”. He defeated former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem and Hugo Grenier to earn his place in the third round at the season’s first major for the fourth consecutive year.

Auger-Aliassime’s game is revving up. But he was not far from departing Australia without a win in singles or doubles.

In the first round, the 2022 Australian Open quarter-finalist let slip a two-sets advantage against 2020 US Open champion Thiem. The Canadian needed four hours and 59 minutes to advance.

“Now things will get tougher and tougher as the tournament goes on. But I feel good with my game, and I feel like the work that we've done is paying off,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I think the wheels are in the right direction, so I need to stay focussed, stay consistent, and hopefully keep winning some matches.”

The good news is that physically, Auger-Aliassime felt “pretty good” after playing the physical Thiem for nearly five hours. It was the result of the hard work he has been putting in with his team to get ready.

“Even with the practice, all of December, I was kind of rehabbing, coming back, so the load wasn't so heavy in the first few weeks of December. It got heavier just before I left to Australia,” Auger-Aliassime said. “When I was in Sydney [at] the United Cup preparing, [I was] trying to play, but not being so ready to play. So it was a good test.

“I didn't play so much tennis. Like I said, I didn't practise so much lately. To be pushed like that in the first round, and that my body responded that well, especially after the match as well, finishing well, the next day I felt good.”

Auger-Aliassime is No. 30 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, his lowest mark since May 2019, when he was 18. But despite finishing 23-19 in 2023, with his knee plaguing him for an extended period, Felix showed signs of the form that helped him to a career-high World No. 6 towards the end of the season when he successfully defended his Basel title. At that event, he defeated Holger Rune and Hubert Hurkacz.

“The trust came back at the end of last year. You don't win a 500 with the level that players play now without trusting yourself or without feeling like you can play well,” Auger-Aliassime said. “So for me it's always been about, yeah, being sharp physically. I'm also a player that needs to practise a lot. I don't know if [it is] more than other players, but I know I need to spend time on court and to play matches.”

Felix explained that with time on court, his tennis comes back naturally. He will hope that is the case when he faces two-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev in the third round.

“Without even speaking too much, you kind of just get in your rhythm again and are feeling better and better,” Auger-Aliassime said. “The trust has been there. It hasn't disappeared ever.”