World number four Felix Auger-Aliassime will be playing for local pride when the ATP Montreal Masters begins on Sunday in his hometown.
The Canadian returns as second seed to a tournament he attended frequently as a budding young player, when he used to watch and study his sporting idols up close in training between matches.
"There were several times when I didn't have a ticket, so I would watch all the training sessions," he said on Saturday at the event, where he is seeded behind Roland Garros winner and Wimbledon runner-up Alexander Zverev.
"I learned even more things during training since they (fans) have the chance to be very, very close to the players."
Auger-Aliassime recently split with his longtime coach of 10 years, Frederic Fontang, after losing a frustrating Wimbledon five-set quarter-final to Novak Djokovic.
#World #felix
The Canadian returns as second seed to a tournament he attended frequently as a budding young player, when he used to watch and study his sporting idols up close in training between matches.
"There were several times when I didn't have a ticket, so I would watch all the training sessions," he said on Saturday at the event, where he is seeded behind Roland Garros winner and Wimbledon runner-up Alexander Zverev.
"I learned even more things during training since they (fans) have the chance to be very, very close to the players."
Auger-Aliassime recently split with his longtime coach of 10 years, Frederic Fontang, after losing a frustrating Wimbledon five-set quarter-final to Novak Djokovic.
#World #felix
10 hours ago
