Yes we can understand that Félix Auger Aliassime says he is relieved and liberated to finally have a first title in his pocket on the great ATP circuit. This week in Rotterdam each match had a different flavor and I really liked the way it weaved its web to the title. To gain momentum within a tournament, the most difficult thing is to set up your game at the start of the tournament. Just think of Denis Shapovalov who came up against the great talent of 20 years old Jiri Lehecka at the start, even if the Czech had no experience at the top level. What he accomplishes makes me think of Shapo in 2017 in Montreal as he stops in the semis just like Lehecka in Rotterdam this week.
On this circuit, even being a member of the great elite, you can’t afford to drag your feet at the start of the tournament because you won’t pass a lap. This is precisely what impresses me from Félix this week when he has a lot of difficulty putting down Igor Gerasimov from the outset, but mentally he remains strong which leads him to find solutions and do the right choices to reverse a badly embarked situation.
The same thing happens in the half against a tough guy he had never beaten in 2 matches, Andrey Rublev. Can you imagine how much mental work you have to do at all times to stay strong after wasting 7 break points, 4 of which are first set points? It would have been so understandable and normal for him to drag out his sentence in the second set. But no, not this new improved version of our Félix. He hangs on like a starving man and it is only at 4-4, 2nd set that he takes control of the match. What abnegation and belief in the depths of his being to continue working as if everything was fine, as if it was he who had won the first set. It’s so hard to do especially against a player who makes you suffer by walking left/right at breakneck speed.
I was really looking forward to seeing how Félix was going to feel physically today in the final. No need to recall how difficult so far it has been for him to play his best tennis in the ultimate round in the 8 finals lost. With his power, speed, 1st service ball on fire and his growing experience of big matches now, everything I hoped for, against Stefanos Tsitsipas who still beat him in the last 5 clashes between the two, c is that Félix plays at the height of his talent. What he manages to do besides while the Greek has a lot of difficulty following the parade so much FAA pounded him with his strong points.
Well, it’s done now. No more carrying that grand piano on your shoulders. Another step is taken and that inevitably pushes it even further up, you know where the air is thin. He is serious on and off the pitch. He trains hard as his team wraps him in good care. What’s nice is that everyone is working in the right direction, with humility and honesty while keeping medium and long-term objectives in mind. For me, as much as it was obvious in 2019 that Bianca Andreescu would be Grand Slam champion, it is also obvious in Melbourne this year that Félix has everything it takes to win the biggest titles in the world of tennis… So: let’s go!!!
