Felix Auger-Aliassime reacts to ‘painful’ opening-match loss as he looks to ‘figure it out’
Felix Auger-Aliassime has admitted that his opening-match defeat at the Canadian Masters is ‘painful’ as he looks to ‘figure out’ where he went wrong.
The world No 28 was sensationally defeated in his opening match by world No 56 Fabio Maroszan, 6-4, 6-4, after not capitalising on a 4-1 lead in the first set.
Overall, it is Auger-Aliassime’s third loss in his last four matches.
“It’s been a mix of things we both did, I mean, I don’t play alone out there,” the former world No 6 analysed.
“It’s not like I’m shooting hoops with my coach, there’s always an opponent trying to win, and this time, he did better than me, especially dealing with the conditions.
“Obviously, you all know it was very windy, which caused me not to serve well, leading to getting broken.
“Surely, he coped much better than me with all those aspects. It’s frustrating because I arrived early in Toronto precisely to adapt to those conditions, probably had more hours of preparation than any other player, never crossed my mind something like this.
“The wind is something you can’t control, but it’s the same for everyone. There’s no point complaining now about the conditions in Toronto”.
The world No 28 started 2025 in sensational fashion, winning the title in both Adelaide and Occitanie, reaching the final of the ATP 500 event in Dubai.
However, the clay-court season was one of great disappointment, winning just three matches and being knocked out in his opening match at six of the seven such tournaments in which he participated.
“Losing a match is always painful, but losing here at home, in Canada, is much more disappointing,” continued Auger-Aliassime.
“Here you feel like you want to play as many matches as possible, so losing in the opening match is always tough, very tough.
“Obviously, I’ve been through this situation many times in my career, but you never learn to feel better, so it’s not an easy moment.
“Also because, in the end, we’re talking about a Masters 1000 tournament, alongside the Grand Slams, they are the tournaments you want to play and do well in, but things aren’t working out this season.
“Now it’s time to prepare for Cincinnati, there’s no other option.”
Despite the obvious disappointment of losing in his home country, Auger-Aliassime has rarely performed well at the Canadian Open.
His best result occurred in 2022 when he made the last eight (losing to Casper Ruud), with a third-round appearance in 2019 being his second-deepest performance.
Overall, the Canadian hasn’t won a match at the tournament since his run three years prior.
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“Maybe we could blame pressure if I had a horrible start, but I had a good start,” commented the former world No 6.
“I don’t know, sometimes it’s true that you feel those nerves, but then, how did I manage to play well in the early games?
“In my head, I thought I was handling it quite well, but then he started adapting much better to the game, let’s say he found the formula to navigate it better.
“I saw him hitting the ball, and it was as if there was no wind; he played high-risk tennis, and it worked out great, maybe I was too conservative. I think if I were to replay this match, I wouldn’t do things very differently; it’s just that sometimes the opponent is too good.
“It’s not easy after a week like this, where I believe I did my best during the days of training prior. I’m working on all aspects, including my strengths, but this is the challenge that sports always present to you.
“You can do your best, even today I feel like I did everything possible on every point, but sometimes it’s not enough.
“On one hand, I need to give credit to my opponent; on the other hand, delving a bit deeper, I leave knowing where I can find solutions within myself. I’m not a big believer in taking a magic pill to become the best player in the world, it doesn’t work like that suddenly.
“In the end, it all comes from within, and each one has to figure it out, that’s it”.
Heading into the final Grand Slam of the year, Auger-Aliassime will be hoping for a change of fortune in New York.
The Canadian has failed to collect consecutive match victories at the US Open since he reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final in 2021.
