Auger-Aliassime eyes top-50 ranking in 2019
Félix Auger-Aliassime is ready for a full-scale assault on the ATP Tour. The 18-year-old Montrealer has had a rapid rise in the men’s tennis rankings, reaching a career-high No. 109 this month. He achieved that ranking largely on his play in Challenger events — the tennis equivalent of the American Hockey League — but he has his sights set on bigger and better things in 2019. “He played 20 Challengers and 10 ATP Tour events this year because he needed them to raise his ranking,” said his coach, Guillaume Marx. “Now that his ranking is up, he has the opportunity to play in more Tour events and that’s what he wants.” Auger-Aliassime is taking a well-deserved break from tennis to spend time with his family in Montreal. He has seen doctors about a knee injury that forced him to pull out of a tournament last week in France, but said “it’s nothing serious” as he took time out Tuesday to discuss his progress during the past season. “There were a lot of highlights,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Winning in my first Rogers Cup match against a top-25 player (Lucas Pouille), qualifying for the U.S. Open and then beating Hyeon Chung, who was an Australian Open semifinalist, at (the) Chengdu (Open in China).” While winning three matches to earn a spot in the main draw of the U.S. Open was one of the highlights of his season, his first match was one of the disappointing moments of the year. He took the first set against his close friend and fellow Canadian, Denis Shapovalov, but was trailing 5-7, 7-5, 4-1 when he retired with a heart problem. “It was a bit of bad luck, but we’re working to get it resolved,” said Auger-Aliassime, who was suffering from arrhythmia. “It’s not life-threatening and I’ve played six or eight tournaments since the Open without any problems. There are different factors, it could be stress, it could be because of the heat that day.” Auger-Aliassime, who is the topranked 18-year-old on the ATP Tour, defended his title on the clay at Lyon, France, and won a second Challenger title in Tashkent. He said the biggest adjustment he had to make was becoming accustomed to the travel, and his parents made several trips to provide support. He will travel to Florida on Dec. 1 for three weeks of training before he goes to Australia. He’ll play an ATP event in Brisbane to warm up for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Jan. 13-27 Australian Open. Auger-Aliassime’s ranking means that he’s on the bubble for a direct entry in Melbourne. The top 104 players in the rankings qualify for a direct entry, but there are always some dropouts because of injury or because players don’t want to make the trek Down Under. “I wanted to establish myself in the top 100 and I had some solid results,” Auger-Aliassime said when asked about his goals. “I don’t want to look too far ahead, but if I can finish near the top 50 next year, it would be fantastic.” Auger-Aliassime said there’s a chance he will play doubles with Shapovalov. They won the 2015 U.S. Open junior title and, with the retirement of Daniel Nestor, there’s a chance for a Davis Cup pairing in the future.