By beating Frances Tiafoe at the US Open, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to his second Grand Slam quarterfinal of 2021. His first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance came at Wimbledon following his victory over the fourth seed Alexander Zverev. During his prodigious rise through the tennis ranks, Félix has set several records, but he has also had a lot of bad luck.
Auger-Aliassime has played in eight ATP finals and lost them all. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Felix lost to low-ranked Australian Max Purcell before facing upsets at the 2021 Citi Open and 2021 National Bank Open. However, those embarrassing losses will quickly fade if the United States wins. Open.
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s father was his tennis coach until he was 13 years old.
Felix Auger-Aliassime was born on August 8, 2000 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of Sam Aliassime and Marie Auger. Sam has Togolese roots and Marie Auger is of French Canadian descent. Sam and Marie gave Felix and his sister Malika the name Auger-Aliassime to represent the children’s dual roots.
After defeating Frances Tiafoe to advance to the 2021 US Open quarterfinals, Félix claimed that he and compatriot Leylah Fernández had a difficult childhood. Leylah, 19, advanced to the women’s quarterfinals after defeating Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber.
“We have come a long way, Frances and I,” Auger-Aliassime said. ESPN. “Our families have difficult backgrounds, both of us.”
Sam Aliassime emigrated from Togo, settled in Canada, and later married child psychology professor Marie Auger. Canada’s young talents often prefer hockey to other sports, but Felix preferred tennis.
“My mom is not a sports fan and my dad didn’t know what hockey was until he came to Canada,” Felix said. ESPN. “Our parents wanted me to be a complete athlete, so we played all sports, but tennis was always at the top.”
Felix played with Sam until he was 13 years old. After moving on to professional coaches, Felix’s game took a step forward. “From that moment on, he really went to another level,” Felix said.
Auger-Aliassime made an agreement with her parents that she would decide her future in tennis after graduating from high school. “I would finish high school with good grades and then, depending on my level of tennis, I would either go to college or turn pro,” Felix said. ESPN.
Felix never made it to college, as his performances in junior tournaments marked him as a future star. While Sam handled the sporting side of things, Marie Auger made sure that Félix stayed grounded and motivated. She said Tennis Canada:
“I tried to be the balance at home. I have good communication with my children and they know they can trust me. It’s not always easy being the parent of a professional tennis player, but I have grown into that role. When Felix is playing in a tennis tournament, he is at work. I stay positive and make sure he feels supported, but I leave tennis to him.”
Felix’s mother is more proud of Felix’s humanity than of his sporting achievements.
Marie Auger/Tennis Canada
“He [Felix] He’s not only a good player, he’s a good person,” Marie said. Tennis Canada.
He said that he always focuses on his attitude on the court. Felix is no stranger to making his feelings known on the court: He questions phone calls, gestures to his friends and family and shakes his head in disgust every time a decision goes against him.
Yet he always maintains a calm that underpins his ability to respond to disappointment. Felix backs up his mental toughness with displays of humanity rarely shown in competitive sports. Maria spoke with Tennis Canada in one of Felix’s most moving moments:
“I remember when Felix was younger, he had just won a major junior tournament. After the match, he noticed that his opponent was crying over the loss. Felix immediately went to get Kleenex that he kept in his tennis bag and took them to the other player. Even though he won the title and played some great tennis, that was my favorite moment of the whole tournament.”
Marie believes that she has done a stellar job raising Felix as a compassionate human being. “Of all the jobs I’ve had in my life, my job as a mother has been the most successful,” Marie added.
Auger-Aliassime spent some much-needed time with family during the coronavirus pandemic
In April 2020, Felix updated ATP circuit in the well-being of his family during the forced confinement. She said that everyone was healthy and that she had been using the extra time to make memories with the family.
“I am also making sure I have enough time to rest and spend time with my family,” Felix wrote. “Our family rarely gets the chance to be together for this long because of my career. It will probably continue for the next few weeks and months, so it’s nice to feel like I’m back in the day when I was a kid, spending time with my sister and parents.”
Felix maintained his competitive edge by playing board games with his mother and sister. He said that he enjoyed the games because they never had a clear winner. “Even though I’m not on the court, I need to find a way to be competitive at some point in my life,” Felix said.
“I beat my mom by a few points the other day, so the games have been pretty close. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn