It All Makes Sense: Why Felix Auger-Aliassime ‘Mr. Link’ | ATP tour | Tennis

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It All Makes Sense: Why Felix Auger-Aliassime ‘Mr. Clutch’

Canadian led the Tour in tiebreak winning percentage and number of deciding set wins

January 17, 2026

During the Australian Open, ATPTour.com will give fans insight into the leaders of key statistical categories, showing how performances in 2025 all contributed to successful seasons and the promise of more good times in 2026.

In 2025, Felix Auger-Aliassime emerged as one of the most influential players on the ATP Tour – a man who seems to thrive when matches are on the line.

The Canadian ended the year with a 69.6 percent lead on Tour (32/46) of tie-breaks played, and also won the top 20 decisive matches of the season. That kind of grit and execution under pressure turned tight situations into titles – in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels – while he also rose to a career-high No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Felix attributed his dramatic turnaround in tie-breaks to a strong year on serve and the confidence he gained from winning more matches. “The consistency of the serve is huge at the end of sets, deciding sets and pressure moments,” he said. “I could usually think of good services when needed.

“And then I think it’s just overall confidence. You just have this feeling when you’ve had a string of wins or you’ve been in a lot of those tough situations, you feel like you’re going to get the positive outcome in some way. You feel like you’re not going to miss it before the other person.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s tiebreak and deciding set record

Auger-Aliassime’s DNA came out big against Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of the US Open. The 25-year-old dropped the first set but remained unperturbed for a 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4) victory to reach his first major semi-final since 2021.

“A big tiebreak win for me last year was the fourth set against De Minaur in the US Open quartet,” he said. “It was really tight. If I drop that, it goes to the fifth set and you don’t know what could happen, I might not have made it to the semi-finals. So that was very difficult.”

In 2024, Auger-Aliassime achieved a negative record in both tie-breaks (6-10) and deciding sets (10-13), but the turnaround from that campaign to 2025 was dramatic. It also played a key role in his year-end surge towards qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time since 2022. Auger-Aliassime transformed himself into one of the Tour’s most reliable finishers under pressure.

What is Felix’s mentality heading into a tiebreak?

“I have an aggressive playing style, so I won’t change that,” he said. “When you get to the tiebreak, you’ve played twelve games during the set, so you know your opponent’s favorite patterns. So I try to remember those favorite patterns and then try to focus on my serve, try to make as many first serves as possible.”

“The last thing is never to complain. You don’t really have time, you have to reset quickly. You might be down at 4-2, but you have to stay stable. You never know. One point can change everything in the tiebreak. And as far as I’m concerned, you can’t allow yourself to show any negativity.”

In short, 2025 wasn’t just about titles or PIF ATP Rankings points – it was about proving he can deliver when every point counts. On those nights where the matches teetered on the edge of a knife, Auger-Aliassime was the man you could trust to sharpen it and strike.

Visit our Infosys ATP Stats section for more insights.