Nerves, history and experience: Felix Auger-Aliassime shares masterplan of his success at US Open after victory over Alexander Zverev

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime produced one of the best performances of his career as he defeated the third-seeded Germany's Alexander Zverev in the third round of the US Open. The final score of the match was 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. The victory was a special one for Auger-Aliassime, as he had only defeated Zverev twice in their eight meetings before the match.

His last win before Saturday's triumph in the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year against Zverev was in 2021. Talking about his performance on the day, Auger-Aliassime admitted that he was ‘nervous at the beginning, which did not help him in having a best of the beginning. Auger-Aliassime stated that once that nervousness went away, it became easier for him to deal with the situation, and he felt ‘good’ throughout the match.

“Yeah, it was good,” said Auger-Aliassime while talking to the press. “Obviously, I mean, yeah, I was feeling well. I had a tough start, but then after, like, a bit nervous, to be honest, even though I've faced these players in these situations, but I was, I don't know, just a bit nervous. And then once that got away, I felt good. And it's nice because it just, yeah, it's been a work in progress. And I feel like, you know, tonight everything came together very nicely and all the things I've been working on have paid off tonight.”

Coming into the competition, Auger-Aliassime had a bit of a difficult ride. He was knocked out in the round of 64 at the Canadian Open. AT the Cincinnati Open, he did manage to bounce back and was eventually knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Italy’s Jannik Sinner. Auger-Aliassime was asked about how he managed to overcome that heartbreaking defeat in Toronto in front of the home crowd. In response to that, the 25-year-old stated that he managed to ‘move on’ quickly.

“Honestly, I didn't spend too much time thinking about the loss in Toronto,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Like, I moved on quickly. No, I was training good. I was feeling well. You know, like, a match is a match. I mean, anything can happen. It was quite windy that night too. It was very different conditions. So you just go on to the next tournament and try to prepare for that one. And then same thing here again. But for sure, as the weeks went on, I felt like, at least in the practice, I felt that I was doing things really well. Mentally, you know, more clarity in my game and how I want to play. So, for sure, yeah, it's not, you know, a performance like this doesn't fall out of the sky. But you never know also when you're going to play that level on any given day.”

Auger-Aliassime then spoke about the importance of the result and stated that it did give him a lot of ‘boost of confidence’ to finally get one over a top-three opponent in a major event. Auger-Aliassime also highlighted the importance of working hard and trusting the process and stated that if anyone keep putting their head down and continue working, the ‘results will come’.

“Yeah, well, it's a great boost of confidence for sure,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Encouraging for myself, my team, everybody that's been supporting me. But, you know, myself first. It's just like I try to always stay, you know, ambitious, professional and take care of every detail throughout the years. And it can be frustrating when it's maybe not paying off as much. But that's the life of most players. Also, you have to accept it and, I think, be humble, you know, in losses. But it's no different than when I was a bit younger. It's the same, you know, process. And then you have to be patient. You have to be patient and trust that, like, if you have clear intentions in your practice and when the match comes, that results like this will come.”

While speaking during the on-court interview after the match, Auger-Aliassime stated that he is learning to manage his matches better, having played a lot of tennis at the highest level despite being just 25 years old. Auger-Aliassime was asked about what he meant by that during the press talk. In response to that, Auger-Aliassime stated that it is something that has definitely helped him, having played at the highest level for so many years and facing big players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner.

“I think it helps me, you know,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I had tough last two years, but, like, I don't see anybody on tour and I don't think they see me either. But, like, I feel like it's different when, you know, I came on and you have to play Novak, Rafa. Like, these guys, like, grew up watching them. Like, it's just tough to have that same kind of belief. But, you know, having played these guys, even Yannick, who obviously beat me in Cincinnati, but we have a lot of respect for each other. But we also, you know, kind of are the same age, you know, so it's different me looking at them or looking at, you know, the legends of our sports. Obviously, I think it helps that I was also, you know, at a good level at a young age. And now, I mean, I have, you know, like the goal or, like, the challenge for me now is to challenge these guys and get back up to a higher level of consistency.