Let the good times roll for Felix Auger-Aliassime.
On Saturday, the Canadian claimed his first ATP Tour title in 15 months at the Adelaide International. The success has extended beyond the court, too. Last November, the 24-year-old announced his engagement to longtime partner Nina Ghaibi.
“It’s great. It's very natural because Nina and I met when we were still just 18, actually at a tournament in Miami. Since then we’ve built a great relationship,” Auger-Aliassime told ATPTour.com last week in Adelaide. “Her values are just like mine and are the most important in our relationship. She is really somebody that I like to say she can't be corrupted. She's very, very honest, very straightforward, and she's got great values, great family values. It’s great that we're now entering this new chapter of our lives.”
Fans only see players’ efforts on court. Depending how frequently the stars post on social media, they see very little of what happens off the court and how stars rely on their family and teams for support.
“It's crucial. If there were times when I didn’t feel as good with things outside of tennis, it impacted my tennis. And right now, I feel great because my team, everybody around me, they are great people, and I feel supported with them,” Auger-Aliassime said. “My dad travels with me more and more. Nina, she’s a great support. She and her family are great people. You feel that you have this unwavering support, regardless of the ups and downs of what a tennis career is.
“To feel like you have that constant support, that for me is the most important thing. After that, you try to put things in place so that you have the best career possible. That rock of the family is crucial.”
Feeling well off court, Auger-Aliassime began his season as the No. 29 player in the PIF ATP Rankings for the second consecutive season. He climbed to World No. 6 in November 2022.
“It’s a fresh start. I feel like throughout the season, especially with the way the ranking is set up, you have the Race every year. It’s a new start,” Auger-Aliassime said. “From January, you have a great season, and you win 60 or 70 matches in the year, you end up in Turin regardless of what you did the year before. It is a fresh start. So that's why every year I get a break. I train well. And especially this year, I trained well. I feel motivated to start.”
After spending the preseason training in Monaco, Auger-Aliassime made a good start to his year at the United Cup, where he rallied past World No. 4 Taylor Fritz for his first Top 10 victory since defeating Casper Ruud last year in Cincinnati. He followed that by lifting the trophy on the outdoor hard courts of Adelaide, his first tour-level title outdoors.
“I’ve had good results, let's say, at the Australian Open, or at the start of the year some years. Other years less. But I think where my mindset is today is to try to put a routine in place, try to put a mindset in place that I can be consistent with throughout the year. It’s not a sprint,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You don't want to just have this first month of January where you're super focused and disciplined with everything you do, and everything is great. And then have that mentality and mindset and go down as the year goes on.”
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Auger-Aliassime does not want this to be a season of crests and troughs. “For me, the mindset is more to be consistent,” he said.
The next step towards achieving that goal is taking care of business in the first round of the Australian Open. The 29th seed will begin the season’s first major against German Jan-Lennard Struff, against whom he has split four previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings.
It helps that Auger-Aliassime is feeling well on and off the court in Australia.
“Every time, it's refreshing to come here. Everybody's in good spirits because it’s the start of the year for them. Everybody is celebrating the new year,” Auger-Aliassime said. “In terms of the tennis, it's a great place to practise our sport. People love tennis here. Every match I play here, regardless of if it's in Adelaide or in Sydney, Brisbane, I was in Perth for the first time, or in Melbourne.
“Every day it's packed with people. You just feel this vibe that everybody enjoys this part of the year. It's their summer here and for us players, it's a treat to come here every start of the year.”
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