“Going to try to keep doing the things I’m doing well, not put too much pressure” – Auger-Aliassime back in top 20 after Madrid final
The Canadian was suffering from the effects of a virus in Madrid but credited Rublev for his superior performance in the final
Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic
After reaching his first ATP Masters level final n Madrid, albeit in strange circumstances with the benefit of three walkovers/retirements, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime will head into the Rome Masters trying to focus on the things he has been doing well and not putting too much pressure on himself.
After a rough 16 months which saw his ranking slide from No 6 to No 36, the Canadian has rebounded with this run in Madrid this week and is looking forward to Rome, where his best result has been a quarter-final appearance in 2022. The run also put the 23-year-old back into the world’s top 20 for the first time since October.
“Day by day I feel like I can look again today, even with the circumstances, there were some good moments where I showed a good level. Obviously, it was a weird week with all the walkovers, but I’m going to head into next week with the same confidence I came in this week actually, this tournament, I felt like I could play well,” the Canadian said.
“Rome is the same thing. I feel like it’s a tournament where I have had good memories, as well, in the past. I’m going to try to just keep going, keep doing the things I’m doing well, not put too much pressure, expectations that I need to be perfect, and enjoy. Enjoy the days and learn from the downs. Stay cool and take it easy.”
“I think it was just the body being tired of fighting a virus during the week” – Auger-Aliassime ON CRAMPING IN THE THIRD SET
Even as he credited Andrey Rublev for the better performance on Sunday, Auger-Aliassime is aware of some of the areas that let him down in the final.
“I think overall I served well, as good as I could. But from the baseline and the return I felt like, there are matches where I do a little bit better, which is not finding precision as much as other times on certain shots, the return, coming in early and trying to put some pressure but then not being precise. So not having this tool of mine that I can have, putting pressure on the return second serve early, and then the backhand wasn’t finding as much precision as well on the crosscourt (shots) and down-the-lines.”
Like his conqueror Rublev, Auger-Aliassime was also battling a virus in Madrid, which at one point made him contemplate pulling out of the tournament. Fortunately for him, his opponent that day, Jakub Mensik retired first, giving the Canadian a chance to recover. But he believes his cramps late in the third set were an after-effect of his body battling the virus.
“I was also struggling with my stomach mid-tournament. Wasn’t even sure if one day I could play. And Mensik pulled out that day. And then I think that, just dealing through — I mean, credit to him, as well, and like he said in his speech, the medical staff because I think a lot of players, there was kind of a virus maybe in Madrid, I heard, were dealing with things, and even though I was lucky that I didn’t really play the quarters and semis, all that added up, came out today with the cramps, I think it was physically — I haven’t cramped much in my career, so yeah, I think it was just the body being tired of fighting a virus during the week.”
