Auger-Aliassime confident ahead of showdown with Federer: "It's going to be a great test for me"

After having idolized Roger Federer growing up as a child, Felix Auger-Aliassime will get the opportunity to face the Swiss superstar for the first time when the two clash in the second round of the Noventi Open.

“It’s cool. To be honest it’s a great test for me. I’ve never played Roger before. We practiced a couple of years ago in Dubai, but I never had a chance to play him in a tournament, so it’s good,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Of course he’s a favorite here, he’s won 10 times. It’s going to be a good test for me to see where my game is at on the grass.”

The 20-year old has watched Federer his entire life, and even shares the same birthday as the 20-time Grand Slam champion (August 8). Nonetheless, he does not want to let the moment overwhelm him as he is also competing for a spot in the quarterfinals.

“If I want to give myself chances to win, I will have to dictate the points that I can dictate, starting from my serve. If I can protect my service games and be aggressive behind my serve, that’s going to help me a lot,” Auger-Aliassime said. “And then we’ll see on the return what I can do to create myself opportunities. Of course it’s going to be tough, because he does put you out of your comfort zone.

"He has everything tennis has to offer in his game, so he’s going to have many solutions to try to trick me. But I think it’s going to be important for me to try to dictate as much as I can.”