Marathon man Felix Auger-Aliassime thinks one category larger for 2023
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime also wants to play for the titles in ATP Masters 1000 and Grand Slam tournaments next season.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Nov 30, 2022, 03:57 pm
Felix Auger-Aliassime is the marathon man of the past season: None of the absolute top players played as many matches in 2022 as last weekend's Davis Cup hero. With 87 professional games, the Canadian leads by two disputes in front of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas. The last place on the podium goes to the British Cameron Norrie (75), who is clearly behind. But is the quantity really that important? Rafael Nadal, currently number two in the ATP ranking, only had 47 confrontations last season - also due to some injuries.
In any case, the FAA's plan for 2023 is already clear: "From now on, my goals are clear, namely to win the Masters 1000 and the Grand Slam tournaments." The man from Montreal has already taken an important step this year: winning finals. While Auger-Aliassime had lost all of his eight finals by early 2022, Toni Nadal's protégé scooped a total of four titles last season (Rotterdam, Florence, Antwerp, Basel).
Big respect to Alcaraz and Rune
"When you play a final you always want to win. But you also have to see the positive side: to be able to fight for the title is already a good result." There were times when he didn't play well enough to deserve the win. But he never gave up: "I think resilience is one of my best qualities."
Even at the age of 22, the North American has the utmost respect for the top players who are even younger than him in terms of age: "I've already beaten Carlos (Note: Alcaraz) . He has enormous potential and it's impressive that he's already number one in the world at 19 and has won a Grand Slam tournament. And then there's Holger, who has also achieved incredible performances. It will be great to fight them for the most important trophies."