French Open star left ‘destroyed’ and makes brutally honest confession about career | Tennis | Sport

Felix Auger-Aliassime felt “destoyed” after losing in the quarter-finals of the French Open, and candidly admitted that he wasn’t improving in the way he wanted. The draw had been blown wide open in Paris following early exits for Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, and we are guaranteed to crown a new Grand Slam champion this weekend.

As the No. 4 seed, Auger-Aliassime had been hoping to capitise on the extra opportunities in the men’s draw this fortnight. The Canadian had experience in the latter stages of Majors before, reaching two US Open semi-finals. But he blew a set and break lead over 10th seed Flavio Cobolli in Wednesday’s quarter-finals to lose 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4, and the loss hit harder than most.

This year’s French Open has been one of the most open Grand Slam tournaments in recent tennis history. Two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz didn’t even make it to Paris due to a wrist injury. Young stars Lorenzo Musetti, Arthur Fils, Jack Draper and Holger Rune also didn’t compete, while Sinner and Djokovic lost in the first week.

Since Sinner’s shock defeat last Thursday, Auger-Aliassime has been the highest-ranked man left in the top half of the draw. As a teenager, the Canadian had been tipped for big things. Now aged 25, he knew this may have been one of his best chances to win an elusive Major title, and it made his defeat even more disappointing.

“Yeah, on one end, like, a bigger perspective, I can’t complain with my life, but I’m in a place right now with my tennis career that it’s tough. You know, I’m a little bit, like, I’m destroyed today a little bit,” Auger-Aliassime said after losing in four sets.

“You know, it’s tough. Like, I usually handle losses pretty well, I have to say. Like, my whole career, I was going back to training with optimism and positivity. Now I feel like I’m not the player I want to be, so today is a difficult day.”

Any loss is tough for a tennis player to swallow, but Auger-Aliassime, who will rise to a career-high ranking of No. 4 come Monday, was left with plenty of concerns about the trajectory of his career after exiting at the quarter-final stage.

He added: “In order to find the right opportunities, you need to play tennis well. Every tournament is an opportunity, and after a disappointing clay season, I tried to do better here.

“I won a few matches, but when I look at my clay season overall, I did not quite improve the way that I wanted to or the way that I might have anticipated compared to other seasons on clay. There are further improvements that are possible for me, but I’m definitely not satisfied with the way things went today.

“As years go by, I think I’m growing more and more impatient. Now you know me better. I’m 26 this year, and I’m not improving the way that I wish, so that’s why I’m not feeling great today.”

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