Felix Auger-Aliassime news: Rotterdam champ pays tribute to his coaches after breaking ATP title duck

Shahida Jacobs
February 14, 2022

Felix Auger-Aliassime ended his long wait for an ATP Tour title on Sunday and he doffed his hat to his coaches Frederic Fontang and Toni Nadal after his success.

The Canadian lifted his maiden singles trophy when he defeated top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in the Rotterdam Open final, ending a streak of eight consecutive runners-up finishes.

Auger-Aliassime, who reached the quarter-final of the Australian Open and the semi-finals of last year’s US Open, feels his success is a “good sign” for the future.

“This year I feel more mature. I feel I am a better player than in the years before when I was playing those finals,” he said.

“I think I showed it [on Sunday] and proved it to myself and everybody and I think it is a good sign of what is to come. I am not going to stop here, with the possibility to keep proving myself and my worth.”

Auger-Aliassime added tennis great Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former coach Toni to his coaching team last year as the Spaniard joined Frederic Fontang in his set-up and he paid tribute to both men.

“Both are really important for me. Frederic has been the rock for the team. He is the leader and was able to build a great team around me and he is a real professional,” he told the official ATP website.

“I think he deserves more credit than he gets. He took me when I was 17 years old and has taken me to where I am today and we are not done. It is a really special relationship we have.

“I think we took Toni to have that experience from the top of the sport and he built a lot of confidence [for] the team and normality to winning tournaments like this and reaching late stages at Grand Slams.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime Toni Nadal