Felix Auger-Aliassime’s full press conference after ATP Finals – ‘Back where I belong’
The curtain has come down on Felix Auger-Aliassime’s 2025 ATP Tour season with the Canadian losing in the semi-finals of the ATP Finals against Carlos Alcaraz.
It was an excellent campaign for Auger-Aliassime as he started the year at No 29, but will finish as the world No 5 – a new career milestone – as he won three singles titles, finished runner-up the Paris Masters and also reached the semi-final of the US Open.
Despite his defeat to Alcaraz, the 25-year-old has plenty of reason to be optimistic ahead of the 2026 season as he looks to continue his rise up the rankings and challenge for Grand Slams.
In his post-match press conference, Auger-Aliassime talked about his ambitions, Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and his the Davis Cup.
Q: You played with Carlos and Jannik in this tournament. Could you please tell us about the difference you have found playing with them on this surface?
FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: “I mean, the ranking doesn’t lie. They’re the two best players. That’s the facts. Different game styles, but both put extreme pressure on their opponent in different ways.
“Yeah, I don’t need to get into even how they play. We all know. We’ve seen them for the last few years. We know what to expect.
“They keep showing up and playing good, so credit to them.”
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Q. You’ve shown in these four months you are one of the players who can hang to be the third one behind Carlos and Jannik. Do you think you can show it in Australia, too?
FAA: “Future will tell. It’s great progression I’ve had this year. Like, I’ve always believed, since I’m a kid believed, and my ambition was to win Grand Slams and be No 1 in the world.
“I’ve had ups and downs, but honestly through it all I always believed I could be there. I still believe today. Now it’s a matter of, yeah, doing the right things to improve. If I do, we’ll see where that leaves me.”
Q. Is that the goal then for next year, close the gap to those top two and be a real factor at the slams again?
FAA: “Everybody’s good. I can’t just focus on these two. Everybody above me, below me, young guys coming up. It’s high competition every year. You can have bad luck.
“But of course when I play these guys right now, the facts are they’re a level above everyone. Yeah, I’m going to need to put some work. I’ve never been afraid of some work, so it’s all good.”
Q. If you had to resume your season, what would it be?
FAA: “Back where I belong. Back where I feel like I can play with more consistency. Really happy to be part of this tournament, to have played that way in the last few months. Yeah, happy with the progress.
“The journey goes on.”
Q. We all know how Carlos and Jannik play. Specifically on Carlos, what was the most challenging tonight?
FAA: “I mean, for a guy who was doing everything well, but I remember let’s say three or four years ago, everybody was saying, The serve, the serve. He’s serving crazy good. He did that amazing. The rest of the game has always been good.
“He can change directions with both shots. He puts pressure on you in a different way. You don’t know what to expect. He’s playing at a very high speed. I think that was most challenging.
Q. Canada was a strong team in the past years in Davis Cup. Do you see yourself committing more for the Davis Cup in the future or, like many other players, you would like to change something, to play every two years, whatever?
FAA: “Two things:
“Yeah, I’ve had success in the past. It’s always a pride to play for my country. Many times I have to protect my health. I was injured or not healthy to play Davis Cup.
“On the other point, all I know is that to do something special, it needs to be rare. To do something special, it needs to be rare. Olympics, World Cup, it’s every four years. If you have something every year, it’s not going to be as special. That’s it.
“Thank you.”
