What gave Felix Auger-Aliassime a confidence boost in his match with Jannik Sinner

Felix Auger-Aliassime shares his thoughts on facing Jannik Sinner

It was the seventh meeting between the two players, and although Auger-Aliassime lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, he took some positives from the encounter.

“I was happy when I engaged in a few rallies with him,” said Auger-Aliassime in an interview with Tennis TV.

“I felt that there were options. I felt that sometimes, yeah, I played a little bit too short, or I kind of missed the execution of my shot, and he took advantage of the point.

“But I felt that in some of the rallies, I felt like I was competitive. So it was encouraging for me for the future. It was frustrating because I felt like I could have done it a little bit better in certain moments of the match.

“But he’s just dominant. I mean, all the words you can think of about how special what he’s doing right now is. And all credit to him, but he does it with such class and respect that you just have to tip your hat.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime is confident he can make an impact on clay

Auger-Aliassime has only ever gone as far as the quarterfinals at the Italian Open, but he spoke with enthusiasm about his clay-court game ahead of his run in Rome this season.

The Canadian has never gone past the quarterfinals at the Italian Open, but he expressed confidence in his clay-court abilities heading into this year’s event.

The 25-year-old told Tennis TV: “For me, it’s never been a problem of moving in the clay so much. I think I have the athleticism, and I have the footwork and the control of the sliding to play well, but it’s more of a tactical adjustment.

“I play a lot with my serve. The ball has to come back a lot more in clay and I will sometimes maybe make a few mistakes that are due to the ball coming back a little bit more than they do on hard courts or indoors.

“So on clay, you have to accept even when you have a good serve that the ball is going to come back and you’re going to have to engage in more rallies.

“I think when I play smart tactically, and I play the way tennis should be played on clay with my serve and with my game style, I can do damage.”