ATP Tour
Auger-Aliassime on challenging Sinner: ‘I was going to to toe at times’
Canadian not quite ready to call himself a true rival to World No. 1
September 06, 2025
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Felix Auger-Aliassime is a seven-time ATP Tour titlist.
By ATP Staff
If there can be redemption in defeat, Felix Auger-Aliassime found it Friday night at Flushing Meadows.
Capping a career-reviving run to the semi-finals of the US Open that included victories over third seed Alexander Zverev, 15th seed Andrey Rublev and eighth seed Alex de Minaur, the 25-year-old Canadian gave defending champion Jannik Sinner all he could handle for large parts of their four-set semi-final encounter.
To push the World No. 1 to 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 (after having five break chances to go up an early break in the third set) less than a month after a 6-0, 6-2 blowout to Sinner at the Cincinnati Open, Auger-Aliassime has plenty of reason to be optimistic for the remainder of the season.
“I played much better. I served much better,” he said of his rematch with defending US Open champion. “It was weird. In Cincinnati, we hadn’t played in years… and just the way he was returning, how fast he was playing, it just caught me off guard a little bit.
“I went down quickly. So it affected my game. But tonight I knew what to expect. He still had a great start, but I had much more belief that as the match would go on, I would find a good level and be competitive.”
Showing resilience after dropping the first set, the seven-time ATP Tour titlist conceded just one point on serve in a spectacular second set. He matched Sinner’s power from the baseline and showed flair and conviction in the forecourt, winning 22 of 31 points at net. Had he converted more than one of 10 break chances, the story could have been very different.
Asked to assess his run at Flushing Meadows, Auger-Aliassime said, “Well [I was pleased] with a lot of things… like the way I’m serving, the way I hit the forehand, the way I’m moving around the court, the backhand too. There’s many things.
“But on top of that it’s just the belief, the mentality, the conviction in myself that I have what it takes to win these type of matches. Even in tough matches, like the quarter-finals, there were probably times where I was playing my worst, so to speak. It was still good, but my worst throughout the tournament.
“But I was still believing that my time will come and I will play at a good level again. I think those kind of matches are gratifying for me. Yeah, I think the mentality is something that I’ve been working on and that was good this week.”
Surging eight places during the tournament to 10th position in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, Auger-Aliassime is hoping to qualify for November’s Nitto ATP Finals for the second time. But he offered measured comments when asked if he felt he could emerge as a true rival to the likes of Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
“Future will tell,” he said. “I don’t want to make too many predictions. Tonight, I just want to take a moment to soak in the tournament and everything that was good.
“You obviously build your future with what’s good in you, and then you try to improve a little bit step by step. So I’m just trying to take that all in.
“But to say how close my level is, we were fighting out there. We had some good points. I was going toe to toe at times, some sets dominating. Of course, I feel competitive, but the future will tell how close I am.”
The Canadian’s attention now turns to his wedding later this month to Nina Ghaibi in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Asked if he had been fitted for his wedding suit, he joked, “No, I was on court, man. You expect that I was on the phone call, like, immediately after the loss and figuring that out. No, I’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
Auger-Aliassime also said that he had yet to decide if he would be playing Davis Cup, which is just days before the wedding.
