"I’ve always been a fan of his, and it was nice to share the court with him" - Auger-Aliassime avoiding complacency after abruptly ending part of Monfils farewell tour

Felix Auger-Aliassime was quick to shine a positive light on Gael Monfils after he took him down 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in a tight match, continuing his blistering form on court while he tried to stay modest and not get ahead of himself.

After losing a narrow tiebreaker in the first set, a singular break in the favour of the two-time US Open semi-finalist was enough to edge him level. The same was enough in the third set as he managed to squeeze past Monfils to advance into the third round at Indian Wells.

It was a thrilling contest played out by two remarkable tennis players, with Auger-Aliassime singing the Frenchman's praises after his final appearance at Indian Wells. "It was crazy—an incredible atmosphere," he recalled when to the Tennis Channel. "Obviously, I’m a fan of Gael Monfils. I grew up watching him, so I was telling the crowd after the match that I was probably the only person there who couldn’t root for him. I had to do my job, compete, and try to beat him."

While he had to remain professional and win the match, he was grateful for everything the 39-year-old had done in the sport. "But I’ve always been a fan of his, and it was nice to share the court with him. Maybe it won’t be the last time, but at least this year, in what could be his farewell year, it’s special to appreciate how much he’s done for our sport."

He was also in praise for himself after another very commendable performance on court. "Well, I try to play to my strengths," he commented. "I have to serve well to win. I have to hit my forehand precisely, stay steady with my backhand, and not go for too much when I don’t need to. I try to wait for the right shot and the right opportunity."

He was patient, biding his time before the opportunity arose and more times than not he would clinically dispatch it. "I just try to play the right ball at the right time with whatever I’m given. If I can come forward, I’ll come forward. If I can’t, I have to wait. If you looked at the heat map of where we were standing on the court, he was probably much further back while I was higher up in the court, finishing points at the net. I think I did that really well today."

The form the Canadian is now in is frightening for many opponents. After a disappointing first round retirement at the Australian Open, he won the Open Occitanie before increasing his unbeaten streak on court to reach the ABN AMRO Open final where Alex de Minaur pipped him in the final. He then reached the semi-final in Dubai where an electric Daniil Medvedev produced the goods to dump him out.

The moral of the story is that at the current rate, only the best players in the world playing their best tennis can get close to Auger-Aliassime who is looking to continue his ascend into the world's elite.

He was adamant that he was in a 'good flow' but kept his feet on the ground with the future uncertain. "I would say yes, but at the same time sport moves fast. You have to stay on your toes. A match like today could have ended very differently," he admitted.

"You’re not always going to play your best tennis, but sometimes you have to find ways to win without playing your best. The start of the year has been good. After Australia, I had time to reset, go back home, and get some good work in. Then I played some indoor tournaments in Europe, which I really like, and right away I was playing good tennis and won a title. That was important for me—it made me feel like the work I built last year is continuing."

Tennis is played in pretty much every month of the year, with around six weeks or so of offseason available for the players to rest-up and focus on preparations for next year. Auger-Aliassime spoke on the differences from that period compared to short breaks throughout the season.

"In the offseason you spend much more time working on fitness. Sometimes you might go a week or even ten days barely touching the racket," he explained. "During the season you can’t do that, because you might only have ten days or two weeks between tournaments and you still want to stay sharp. So I try to mix physical work with practice points and practice sets so I can stay in the rhythm of competing."

The physical work is hugely important for those gruelling five-set matches at Grand Slam events for example, but he also acknowledged that having a racket in his hand was necessary when away from competing. "Most players are competitors—we need that feeling of adversity. If you stay too long without it, something doesn’t feel right."

Away from tennis completely, the 25-year-old has got himself a fresh new partnership with car brand Polestar, something that he was passionate and excited about, especially the new car is now driving around California. "Yes, a new one," he exclaimed. "The cars are really nice—great design. It’s something that’s been in the works for a couple of months, so I’m very happy to get it started. Here in Indian Wells Open, it feels fitting to have the car with the scenery around here. I’ve been driving around in it—you’ll see me in it."

The car was an electric, with him certain that it is the future for cars in general and was delighted to get on the hype train. "That’s the future. I think people here in California are very aware of that—you see a lot of electric cars. In Montreal as well, and in Quebec, people are very educated about it. My mum actually drives an electric car too."

Back to tennis, and while Auger-Aliassime is on a hot streak of form, he is only ranked ninth in the world. He will be hoping to convert those results on court into more progress up the rankings with the top of the pecking order in sight.

"Right now it’s really about focusing on the process and the work. Of course I want to win every match I play and go out with the best mentality possible. But for me it’s about trusting the work," he said.

"Going to the practice court with the right intentions, working on my game, and trusting that it will pay off. That’s what I’ve focused on for the past month, and it’s still true today. Winning is just the byproduct of that process."

To do that, he acknowledged the areas of his game that needs to go up a level. "I’d say the return. I served really well today."

He touched on his next round match which will come against Andrey Rublev or fellow Canadian Gabriel Diallo, with both players top servers in their own right. He will be hoping to find a way past this to book his spot in the Indian Wells fourth round for the first time since 2023, and only second time ever.

"You want to find ways to break players like that and get under their skin. For about a set and a half today I didn’t get many chances and had to wait for him to dip a little. If I can find ways to create opportunities—even when the opponent doesn’t dip—and be more effective on second-serve returns, that’s probably the main thing I want to improve," he concluded.