Félix Auger Aliassime is now a name associated with the greats of his sport. 

One of the most promising players of the moment, the 20 years old Canadian tennis player is currently 15th in the world rankings. In doubles, he won the Paris Master 1000 with his partner Hubert Hurkacz and in 2015 he helped Team Canada win the Davis Cup junior. In 2012, he won the Open Super 12 in Surrey, France, a sort of world championship for 12 years. Before him, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Gaël Monfils also won. This association with the greats of tennis, Félix takes it as a source of motivation. 

Auger Aliassime: 9 Must-Read Things About The Tennis Pro! 

1. The “little” prodigy from Quebec was 4 years old when he started

Félix Auger Aliassime lost the first tennis match he played at the age of four, says his father Sam. When the latter came to see him, the little one cried. Not because of the loss, but because he had to leave the field.

“I had fun playing, remembers Felix. It’s still true and I’m happy, because to be successful you have to have fun when you embark on a field. It’s something that my parents introduced from a young age. ”

“I meet young people who no longer have as much fun because it becomes too serious. It’s almost a job. 

2. Where did Auger Aliassime study?

Félix had been attending Tennis Canada’s National Training Center in Montreal, where he rubbed shoulders with the best young players in his country. It is also there that he continued his secondary studies, thanks to the distance program of the Académie des Estacades. Previously, he was part of the academy of “Jack” Hérisset and Jacques Bordeleau, at Club Avantage. His father Sam used to train him there.

When asked what his dreams and goals are, he lists: “I dream of playing professionally, playing in grand slams, maybe even being in the top 10 in the world. But I remain realistic. I continue to study. I want to go to higher education. ”

Jack Hérisset is full of praise for the young man. He first talks briefly about his exceptional athleticism, then focuses on the individual and his parents. “He’s a little guy who has always been shown to give back. His entourage is healthy and that is what is important. He’s very disciplined on and off the pitch. In his case, all hopes are allowed, ”says the“ godfather ”of tennis in Quebec.

3. Father-son relationship

“My father and I have always had a pretty good relationship in the field,” says Félix. Sometimes it was harder because we had difficulty putting it aside when we got home. We set rules from a young age, and it is certain that when the rules were not respected there were punishments. But we’ve always had a good relationship. ”

However, with a father who is also your coach, it is difficult to take tennis out of family conversations. Even at home.

“It always revolves around tennis, ” said Malika. We live in it, we bathe in it all day long. Want, don’t want, it always comes back to that a bit. “

But Mr. Aliassime sees it simply as an illustration of their common passion. “Tennis, you must not play it, you have to live it. Yes, we will often talk about tennis, but we will talk about sport in general. We will not talk about their tennis, explains the father who was already part of the national team of his native country.

Siblings Félix and Malika (his older sister) now find themselves far from their father and the family home. Sam sees it as a normal stage in their development. In Africa, he illustrates, children are given autonomy very early on so that they can fend for themselves. “At eight, Félix was going to Toronto to do an internship, all on his own. He could spend two weeks there. If you want to do this sport, you have to learn to be independent. “

4. Tennis was always in his blood

In his native Togo, Sam Aliassime and his 12 siblings had a tennis court at home. It is there that the passion for this sport was born. Aliassime immigrated to Canada at the age of 25, in 1996, to live with his Quebecois wife. 

He teaches tennis to his children Félix and Malika (Félix Auger Aliassime’s older sister who also plays tennis), but first wanted his children to play soccer. Their football courses did not work out to his liking, however. 

“I didn’t like the teaching, I didn’t like the atmosphere,” he says. Finally, I said to myself: “I’m going to buy a soccer ball, we’re going to play at home”. But a few months later, I realized that they wanted to play tennis when they accompanied me to the club. I never thought of making them play tennis. It came from them. ”

When she was little, Malika Auger Aliassime hated tennis. She admits that she only had the bite when she was 12 years old, although she had started six years earlier.

“My father pushed us a lot when we were young, my brother and me. But for me, it suited me less. I preferred to socialize, to see my friends. But once that period had passed, it was I who always asked for more, ”says Malika, double champion of the Louis-Després tournament, who unofficially makes her the best racquet in the Quebec region. “It’s been a tough few years, but I’m glad I got through it.”

Today, she loves competition, the feeling of always having to surpass herself. This passion has been essential to her, as she is just recovering from two years of injuries due to rapid growth. She suffered back, shoulder, knee injuries that delayed her development. 

Despite her successes, Malika finds herself in the shadow of her younger brother Félix. “It has always motivated me and it has never bothered me. I am not a jealous person to begin with. His success, he fully deserves it. I can just be proud of him, ”she says.

5. First world title at 11

In 2012, he took part in the Open Super 12 in Auray, France, a kind of unofficial World Championships for 11-12 year olds and an antechamber for future stars of world tennis. He won the tournament at just 11, winning his very first world title, although it is unofficial.

6. Record holder of the “youngest”

Inevitably, when you are such a young talented and hardworking player as Félix Auger Aliassime, the tendency is more to accomplish feats at a young age.

• In 2015, he became the youngest player to rank in the World Top 800 and at the same time, the first player born in the 2000s to have integrated the ATP ranking. That same year, at the age of 14, he also became the youngest player in history to qualify for a Challenger tournament (ATP Challenger Tour), the antechamber of the professional ATP World Tour circuit.

• The following year, after losing in the final of the 2016 Roland Garros junior tournament to Frenchman Geoffrey Blancaneaux (1-6, 6-3, 8-6), he became the youngest Canadian tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament. junior, during the US Open by beating the Serbian Miomir Kecmanović (6-3, 6-0).

• In 2017, he is the youngest player to join the World Top 200 (168th) after winning the Challenger de Lyon and the Challenger de Sevilla by winning respectively against Mathias Bourgue (6-4, 6-1) and Íñigo Cervantes (6-7, 6-3, 6-3).

• In 2019, he qualified for the final of the ATP 500 labeled tournament in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the youngest to participate in an ATP 500 final.

• He also became the youngest player to make the top 20 in the world at 18.

7. Praised by Yannick Noah and Roger Federer

After his defeat in the final of the Roland Garros Junior tournament, the young Auger Aliassime, 16 at the time, let out a few tears of frustration. It was then that the former tennis player Yannick Noah came to encourage him.

Félix Auger Aliassime explained to RMC: “Noah who comes to see me, wow! He told me he saw himself young. He was very nice to me. Afterward, the locker room staff told me: “You must be special because Yannick doesn’t travel often to meet a player”

Roger Federer was also impressed by the young Canadian, explaining: “I like his attitude for someone who is young like him. It’s impressive. We’ve seen that in the past with players like Hewitt or Nadal, people who are already mentally mega strong.”

8. Currently trained by Toni Nadal

 In 2021, Félix Auger Aliassime began a collaboration with a new coach, Toni Nadal, who is none other than the uncle and former coach of the Spanish champion Rafael.

“I feel privileged and super lucky to have Toni in my team,” he confessed to Sport.fr.

“We’ve already talked a lot about what we saw as my career goals, which is basically reaching the highest level and winning the biggest tournaments.”

A new coach with whom he hopes to improve his consistency, intensity, and concentration in training. Given the career of the coach and the talent of the young player, everything suggests that this association should worry about the competition.

9. Playing for the children of Togo

Despite the rapidity of his rise and successive successes, the tennis player remains a philanthropist. 

On his second appearance at the Davis Cup, he explains to his father that he does not want to keep the tournament award for himself but to donate it to Tennis Canada and his father’s foundation. They set up the “Giving Back” program which has allowed hundreds of children to play tennis for free.

In 2020, he launched a charitable project called FAA Points for Change, in which he pledged to donate 5 dollars to the association for each point scored in the official competition. The association works for the education of children in Togo, his father’s country of origin.

“I want to make my contribution to the future of the younger generations, especially the most disadvantaged, and I am happy to do so thanks to tennis,” he explained to Eurosport.