"He was fun to watch" - Auger-Aliassime speaks on childhood idol Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Felix Auger-Aliassime looked up to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as a younger and his recent Marseille run will hold a special place for him.

In his opening round, he got to face – and beat – his childhood idol, French former world No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – a player who made Auger-Aliassime feel like a career in tennis was attainable. On that, Auger-Aliassime said:

“I liked his charisma, his game was very explosive and he was fun to watch. And also I can't deny the fact that since we both have the same background, skin colour and all that, or very similar at least, I just felt like as a kid, when you have representation on your TV, you feel like you can relate. It really felt like, ‘Oh, this could be me, you know?’

He further said:

“So I think that's why I idolised him and I really looked up to him, because I really felt like I could relate, compared to other American or European players, where it felt a bit distant, it felt like, as a kid growing up, it felt like, ‘Okay, this is for them, this is not attainable for me. But seeing Jo doing his thing, it felt like, okay, maybe we do have a similar story or background and it felt like he was a big brother.”