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Felix Auger-aliassime managed to break the curse and win his first ATP title in Rotterdam on February 13. Before beating Stefanos Tsitsipas and lifting the trophy in the Dutch event, the Canadian tennis player had lost eight consecutive finals, showing all his limitations in managing emotions.
However, the definitive consecration of the talented Auger-Aliassime did not come after the victory in Rotterdam. In fact, the Montrealer found his dimension in the final part of the season. Between the tournaments in Florence and Basel, Auger-Aliassime added three more titles to his record and started a streak of thirteen consecutive victories; which stopped at sixteen due to his loss to Holger Rune in the semifinals of the Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy.
The Canadian ended the season by playing in the Atp Finals and achieving historic success in the Davis Cup. Canada won the biggest team event for the first time in their history with one of the best versions of Auger-Aliassime, who beat every singles opponent they faced and won the deciding doubles point against Italy in the semifinals.
In an exclusive interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, the Canadian spoke about his Davis Cup victory and his goals for the coming season. "I think I'll dream of that last shot for years. I just thought 'hit as hard as you can', when I realized that De Minaur's ball was going to come out it's like I lost consciousness, my legs gave out, I collapsed on the ground and I just remember that everyone fell on me.
poured over it," Auger-Aliassime explained. "2023 and possible rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz?" I want to confirm and possibly improve again, chasing the biggest tournaments with the goal of winning Masters 1000 and Slams."
Lapentti reflects on Alcaraz
Former World No.
6 Nicolas Lapentti recently compared Carlos Alcaraz’s performance as a teenager to that of Rafael Nadal when he was the same age as his fellow Spaniard. “If you can compare Alcaraz to Nadal when they were both 19, Alcaraz is much better in many different things.
He serves better than Rafa. From the baseline, he is a bit more aggressive. Rafa was bad with his transition when he was 19 then he started improving a lot and tried to get more aggressive,” he said. “They move pretty similar.
When they have to defend, they are very good - both of them. Then, coming to the net, Alcaraz is much better than where Rafa was at 19. So, in many ways, Alcaraz is better,” he added.