ATP Tour

Auger-Aliassime on Sinner test: 'I start the tournament with the toughest challenge'

The good news for Felix Auger-Aliassime Saturday night was that he learned he qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. The more difficult news was that his first opponent will be defending champion Jannik Sinner.

“It’s one way to start a tournament, for sure. It's different in all the other tournaments,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You know that coming into this event that every match is going to be tough. I start the tournament with the toughest challenge, which is interesting in a way because I think winning a match like this one would kind of give you confidence that you can go very far in this tournament. If it doesn't go your way, it doesn't.

“But I'm going to get ready to be a little bit better than I was in Paris. I'm looking forward obviously to matching up with him, and also the atmosphere. It's probably going to be really good.”

The Canadian carries momentum into the Monday-evening clash following his run to the Rolex Paris Masters final. In the championship match at the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event, he fell to Sinner in a competitive straight-sets defeat.

Shortly thereafter, Auger-Aliassime withdrew from Metz and returned home to recover, leaving open the possibility of Lorenzo Musetti capturing the Athens title to leapfrog him in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. That does not mean he was glued to the television watching matches, though.

“Actually, I didn't. I didn't. I was like, 'This is going to be a bit stressful to watch',” Auger-Aliassime said with a smile. “I was trying to stay away from all that stress. I was obviously following the scores, the results, but just focusing on what was under my control, trying to get ready and stay relaxed.”

Importantly, Auger-Aliassime feels better than he did at the end of Paris and is ready to begin his charge in Turin.

“I feel good. Look, it's the end of the season. I've been dealing with some things. But I feel ready. I feel good,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I think it was not even the right decision for me, it was the only decision because for me it was tough to think to play Wednesday already in any other tournament. It was also jeopardising potentially this tournament... Now I think I feel good and I feel ready to start.”