"Terrible year in my career and in my life": Felix Auger-Aliassime makes honest admission about 2023 season as Madrid Open final awaits

Felix Auger-Aliassime will face Andrey Rublev this evening in the final of the 2024 Madrid Open with supremacy at the Caja Magica on the line and despite a myriad of walk-overs, it has been a week to savour for the Canadian.

Recently splitting with Toni Nadal and after a torrid year which saw him hardly win games and have to play on through injury troubles with no time to really regroup and get any surgery or treatment, it was an awful time. As he can atest to prior to his Madrid Open final as he opened up on his awful 2023 and how he can look forward now.

Having got himself out of this situation, it is very much about being positive and looking up now for the Canadian despite having a pretty simple path to glory at the Caja Magica over the last week. He has only played three matches and against Jakub Mensik, Jannik Sinner and Jiri Lehecka, he benefitted from walk-overs. With Rublev doing it the hard way, it could be that not playing as much means he is more fresher or it could become quite one sided.

"Each year since I turned professional I have progressed and become a better player. Then came 2023, which was a terrible year in my career and in my life," said Auger-Aliassime after his walk-over win.

"In sport everything changes quickly and we tend to forget. I am proud of having maintained my passion for tennis in difficult moments, of having been able to face frustration and of continuing to want with all my strength to be a great tennis player.

"It's nice to see myself in this situation again. Some of the best matches of my career have been on clay and I always felt I had the potential to do well,"