Felix Auger
Aliassime revealed that
Carlos Alcaraz's success motivates him to improve.
The
22-year-old tennis player hasn't had the 2023 season he had hoped for after his
achievements in 2022. Auger Aliassime is currently ranked world No. 12, though
a significant portion of his points were earned last year.
In the race
towards the ATP Finals (a tournament he qualified for in 2022), the Canadian is
currently in the 41st position with 715 points, far from the over 2000 points
he accumulated in the latter part of last year, which he will have to defend in
the coming weeks.
Despite his
early exit at Wimbledon, Auger Aliassime was attentive to what was happening at
the All England Club and commented on Carlos Alcaraz's success in defeating
Djokovic in the final. The young Spaniard's achievements have served as
motivation for Auger Aliassime to strive for improvement in his own game.
“It awakens
my competitive side. I also allow myself to speak for the other players. We
don’t want to let him win every tournament. It motivates me to do the right
things,” Felix said.
The
injuries have not allowed the former world No. 6 to have continuity on the ATP
tour. In fact, since the start of the clay season at the end of April, he has
consistently experienced low results. He suffered defeats in the first round of
the Madrid Open, Rome Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon, in addition to
withdrawing from Halle (before his first match) and Lyon (in the
quarter-finals).
In the last
three months, he has only recorded one victory and four defeats. Despite this,
he has shown optimism for the future, indicating that he remains positive and
hopeful about his upcoming performances.
“Things are
much better. I went to Wimbledon thinking it was going to hold up and I’d be
okay. Unfortunately, I felt pain towards the middle of the match,” explained
Auger-Aliassime.
“I did what
I had to do to heal myself. Right now, my knee is fine. I’m back on the field
and I’m ready to fight with the best. When everything is OK physically, I am
convinced that I can attack the next tournaments with the same ambitions that I
have always had. My standards are not lower,” he added.
The next
tournament for Auger Aliassime will be the ATP 500 Washington Open, which
starts on July 31. After his participation in the United States, the
22-year-old athlete will travel to Toronto to play in the Masters 1000 Canadian
Open, where he reached the quarterfinals last year and was defeated by Casper
Ruud.