How the indoor hard-court swing could be a lifeline—or knockout blow—for Auger-Aliassime’s season
With 1,560 points to defend, the upcoming indoor hard-court swing could either see Felix Auger-Aliassime rekindle last year’s form, or drop out of the top 50
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A little less than a year ago, Felix Auger-Aliassime was the hottest thing in tennis. The Canadian had risen to a career high of No 6 in the world, qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals and won four titles in the blink of an eye.
Now as the end of 2023 approaches, Auger-Aliassime has slipped out of the world’s top 10, is sitting at 56th in the live singles race and hasn’t won a title all year. While 2022 saw him win an impressive 60 matches, the 23-year-old has only won 15 matches this season, one less than he has lost.
To make matters even worse, Auger-Aliassime has 1,560 points to defend between now and the end of the year. Continue the way he’s going, and the former No 6 could fall outside the world’s top 80 before December.
2023: Felix’s year to forget
The 2023 season didn’t begin too badly for Felix Auger-Aliassime, with the Canadian making the round of 16 at the Australian Open in January.
A quarter-final appearance in Rotterdam followed, then a semi-final in Doha, before a quarter-final run at Indian Wells. Less than three months into the 2023 season, and Auger-Aliassime was sitting at 11-6 for the year—nothing to write home about, but a decent start, nonetheless.
Unfortunately, this was to be as good as it got for the 23-year-old this season.
Since his quarter-final run in Indian Wells, Auger-Aliassime has failed to win consecutive matches. With first round exits at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, as well as opening losses in Madrid, Rome, Washington and Toronto, it’s been tough viewing for Canadian tennis fans.
The Quebec-native has compiled a record of 4-10 since Indian Wells, leaving him 15-16 for the year.
Injuries, sickness, confidence: It’s all been bad for Auger-Aliassime
You name it, and Felix Auger-Aliassime has struggled with it this season.
Initially it was a left knee issue that caused the Canadian to withdraw ahead of the Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo. Then, shoulder pain led to Auger-Aliassime pulling out of his match against Arthur Fils in Lyon just weeks later.
Throw in some sickness at Roland-Garros, and it’s no surprise that the Canadian’s confidence began to take a hit as well.
“It was difficult to project myself throughout the year and that I could play many weeks in a row. I would get an early loss and be in this vicious cycle and losing early, losing some confidence and not being healthy,” Auger-Aliassime shared recently.
“People closest to me, they see what I go through every day, and they see my effort hasn’t changed. My dedication to a game I love hasn’t changed, but it’s been tough. The [knee] injury has taken a long time to heal and it’s kind of off and on.
“It’s probably the biggest challenge I’ve had so far in my career. The last few years have been great and rising every year. This year, I’m trying to approach it with the best mentality because we can’t always control how things go—but we can control the reaction.”
The next six weeks are make or break for Auger-Aliassime’s season
There is some good news for Felix Auger-Aliassime, however.
The ATP Tour is about to enter its indoor hard-court swing, which is undeniably the Canadian’s strongest suite. This time last year he went on a 16-match winning streak, tearing through draws at back-to-back ATP 250 events in Florence and Antwerp, before winning his second ATP 500 in Basel.
Auger-Aliassime’s hot run was only ended by an equally in-form Holger Rune in the semi-finals of the Paris Masters, with the Canadian falling just two matches short of winning four consecutive titles.
This means that the next six weeks present a perfect opportunity for Auger-Aliassime to rekindle some form and maintain his ranking heading into next year.
“Hopefully, I can be like last year — that would be great,” the 23-year-old said ahead of the Laver Cup last week. “It would be great to end the season like that and I’ve done it before. And I have a belief deep inside of me that I can do that.”
“It wasn’t an accident. I can repeat that sort of level and consistency. I want to feel healthier and I’m constantly working on that and get back to how I was playing and I’m going to use this [Laver Cup] as an opportunity.”
“I feel like my game can come back together fairly quick,” Auger-Aliassime continued. “I really believe it. I’m convinced that once everything is good physically, I’m going into these next tournaments as competitive and with the same ambitions that I always have. The standards are not lower.”
The Canadian did perform at the Laver Cup, winning his singles match in straight sets against Gael Monfils before combining with Ben Shelton in doubles to defeat Monfils and Hubert Hurkacz, helping Team World to a 13-2 victory. However, any hopes of using this momentum to build some sort of winning streak have been nipped in the bud this week in Beijing, with a straight sets loss to Holger Rune.
Tennis legends John McEnroe and Roger Federer have both recently spoken up in favour of Auger-Aliassime, with the former asserting that he believes the 23-year-old will win a Grand Slam before the end of 2024.
Should Auger-Aliassime fail to find his best tennis over the coming six weeks, then with 1,560 points to defend before the end of the year, the Canadian could find himself outside of the world’s top 80 soon, making Grand Slam qualification a concern, let alone winning one.
