The good news for Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday night was learning he had qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals. The more difficult news was that his first opponent will be defending champion Jannik Sinner.
“It’s definitely one way to start a tournament. It’s different in all the other tournaments,” Auger-Aliassime said. “You know when you enter this event, every match is going to be tough. I’m going to start the tournament with the toughest challenge, which is interesting in a way because I think winning a match like this would give you the confidence that you can go very far in this tournament. If it doesn’t go your way, then don’t.”
“But I’m going to get ready to be a little bit better than in Paris. I’m obviously looking forward to working with him, and also to the atmosphere. It’s probably going to be very good.”
The Canadian brings momentum to Monday night’s match after competing in the Rolex Paris Masters final. In the championship match at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, he fell to a competitive straight-sets defeat to Sinner.
Shortly afterwards, Auger-Aliassime withdrew from Metz and returned home to recover, leaving open the possibility of Lorenzo Musetti capturing the Athens title, leapfrogging him in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. However, that doesn’t mean he was glued to the television and watching games.
“Actually, no. I didn’t. I thought, ‘This is going to be a little stressful to watch,'” Auger-Aliassime said with a smile. “I tried to stay away from all that stress. I obviously followed the scores and the results, but just focused on what I could control, trying to prepare and stay relaxed.”
Importantly, Auger-Aliassime feels better than at the end of Paris and is ready to start his attack in Turin.
“I feel good. Look, it’s the end of the season. I’ve been dealing with some things. But I feel ready. I feel good,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I don’t think it was even the right decision for me. It was the only decision because it was difficult for me to play in another tournament on Wednesday. It might also jeopardize this tournament… Now I think I feel good and I’m ready to start.”
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