US Open: What John McEnroe said about Felix Auger-Aliassime: ft. ‘the guy’ prediction
The 2025 US Open has seen Felix Auger-Aliassime enjoy a return to Grand Slam form with an impressive run, but what did John McEnroe predict the Canadian would achieve in his career?
Auger-Aliassime had won just five matches across his previous five Grand Slam appearances prior to this year’s US Open, where he has won four in a row to reach the quarter-finals.
The world No 27, who reached the quarter-finals at the Cincinnati Masters in his last event before the US Open, saw off Billy Harris and Roman Safiullin without dropping a set in his first two matches in New York.
The 25-year-old then stunned third seed Alexander Zverev in four sets in the third round for his second career win against a top 10 player at a major after his victory against the same opponent at Wimbledon in 2021.
Auger-Aliassime then claimed a decisive straight-set win over 15th-ranked Andrey Rublev in the fourth round to progress to his fourth major quarter-final and first since the 2022 Australian Open.
In February 2023, McEnroe predicted that Auger-Aliassime would win a Grand Slam title by the end of 2024.
“I think he’s going to win a major in the next year, 18 months at the most,” the American was quoted as saying by TSN. “I think he’s made great progress.”
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A year earlier, McEnroe backed Auger-Aliassime to be “the guy in a few years.”
“I like Felix a lot, the Canadian, Auger-Aliassime,” the former world No 1 told khaleejtimes.com at the Expo 2020 Tennis Week in Dubai in February 2022.
“He seems the sort of the guy that I think was most likely to win from a bunch of them. I think there’s going to be a handful of guys that are going to do it.
“But right now, he’s making some incredible progress and showing a lot of people that to me, he’s going to be the guy in a few years.”
Ahead of Wimbledon in 2021, McEnroe revealed he expected both Auger-Aliassime and his Canadian compatriot Denis Shapovalov to win majors.
“I think both have made some great strides and progress,” the seven-time Grand Slam winner told ESPN.
“Denis is a little more advanced. I’d give him the slight edge. Felix just beat Roger [Federer]. His confidence is on the rise. He’s looking to be more aggressive and move forward more.
“It’s a tough call. I would give Denis a slight edge at this particular time. I think both of them are going to win majors at some stage in the not-too-distant future.”
Auger-Aliassime’s best major result to date came at the 2021 US Open, where he lost to eventual winner Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.
He has won seven ATP Tour titles and reached a career-high ranking of world No 6 in November 2022.
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