Felix Auger-Aliassime had a first part of the season characterized by too many ups and downs, in which he was never able to find the right consistency also due to some injuries. He continued to believe in his talent and never gave up, until he regained confidence during the US Open at the end of the summer demonstrating his full potential once again.
After eliminating former world No.2 Alexander Zverev in New York, the Canadian ace went all the way to the semifinals for the second time in his career Grand Slam tournament. He had to face world number 1 Jannik Sinner in the penultimate act at Flushing Meadows and put in an excellent performance, putting the four-time Grand Slam champion in serious trouble on his favorite surface.
That milestone fueled Auger's confidence, as he took a little break from the professional tour by celebrating his wedding in Morocco. Despite having to miss a few tournaments, Felix found the best sensations in indoor conditions and began to believe that he could qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
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Connors praises Aliassime
Thanks to the final reached at the Paris Masters 1000 last week, he has surpassed Italian star Lorenzo Musetti in the ATP Race and will play in Turin from November 9 unless the latter lifts the trophy at the Athens ATP 250 this week.
On the latest edition of his podcast, American legend Jimmy Connors expressed his candid opinion on the rise of Aliassime in the recent period: Maybe he is that next guy. Maybe he is the guy who is going to sneak in there and get a little confidence. All he has to do is beat either one of them one time and then he is going to say I can do this.
It will be interesting to see the year is winding down for the guys too, but starting in Australia, to see how he picks his game up and where his game is will be interesting. He has continued and is keeping his game on a high level and is beating players and getting to the semis and the finals and putting pressure on the top guys also, which is good to see."
