Felix Auger-Aliassime scores first win since May in Cincinnati: “I never doubted my abilities or the player I am”

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CINCINNATI, Ohio—After Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated good friend Matteo Berrettini in the first round of Western & Southern Open, he shared a friendly handshake with his opponent before letting out a roar in celebration.

Beyond just securing his passage into the next round in Cincinnati, the roar may as well have been a sigh of relief, as Auger-Aliassime crossed the finish line for his first match win since Lyon in May. He was made to work for it, too, with the Italian edging through in the first set and Auger-Aliassime needing to mount a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 comeback.

“I never doubted my abilities or the player I am,” Auger-Aliassime told press after the match. “I think I have proven to myself and others that I'm among the best players in the world in the past.

“This year has been challenging due to different reasons. Of course, the knee injury that lasted very long kept me on the sideline and also just not playing with the intensity and the level that I can play and that I should play.”

The 23-year-old arrived in Cincinnati on the back of a five-match losing streak, with the latest defeat coming on his birthday in front of his home crowd in Toronto—the culmination of a dismal period which has also seen him fail to score back-to-back matches since March.

The Canadian has been slowly regaining his match fitness after battling a lingering knee tendon injury that kept him out of various tournaments across the clay and grass-court swings. He returned to action on hard courts in Washington DC and Toronto, and recorded back-to-back opening exits and fell to No. 14 on the ATP rankings.

But while fans and pundits were quick to raise alarm bells about his game and fitness, questioning his team and schedule, and more, Auger-Aliassime says he had a “gut feeling” telling him to stay the course and not make any drastic changes.

“It's a gut feeling, sometimes. I have had good periods and I thought, well, I want to go a bit higher. So you change… I added Toni Nadal to the team and got his experience over the last few years. Changing fitness coach, physio,” he explained.

“It's kind of like you see what's happening, and you talk with the people close to you, people that you trust. And then also, at the end I try to be responsible for my career. I mean, I'm the one playing, I'm the one on the court. I feel like when I make choices, I think about them, and I live by, you know, I can really happily live by the choices that I make.

“I try to stay patient also. It's important. And trust that what I can do best is train well and focus on what I can control. If I do that, I trust that the results will come.”

After clearing the first-round hurdle, the No. 12 seed will take on Adrian Mannarino, his doubles partner in Cincinnati, next. He’ll be looking to win two matches in a row at the same tournament since his quarterfinal run in Indian Wells.

“I feel good about my game. Like, on the practice court or now, physically, I feel pretty good. I'm not too far from the best version of myself,” Auger-Aliassime said.

“But at the same time, we'll see. I need kind of more matches to say, Okay, I'm really playing great, great tennis again. That's why it's important for me… Today was great, but it's important to keep going with that same desire and same determination.”