Felix Auger-Aliassime with no regrets after the knockout with Jannik Sinner

Felix Auger-Aliassime commented on his loss to Jannik Sinner in the Us Open semifinals at a press conference. “The future will tell how close I am to Jannik – he began -I don’t want to make too many predictions, I just want to take a moment to enjoy the tournament and all that was good. Obviously you build your future on what you have good, and then you try to improve step by step. I’m just trying to absorb all that. But to say how close my level is — yes, we struggled out there. There were good points. I held my own at certain times, I dominated in some sets. Obviously I feel competitive, but the future will tell how close I am”.

“I am satisfied with a lot of things– added the Canadian -. Because obviously there is the level, how I am serving, how I am hitting the forehand, how I am moving around the court, even the backhand. But I think above all that there is the belief, the mentality, the self-confidence that I have what it takes to win these kinds of matches. Even in difficult matches, like the quarterfinals, there were probably times when I was playing worse, so to speak. But I kept believing that my time would come and that I would get back to a good level. I think these kinds of matches are rewarding for me. I think the mindset is something I have been working on and this week was good”.

On the differences with the match in Cincinnati, dominated by the’Alto Adige: “Yes, I played much better. I served much better. It was strange. We hadn&#8217t played in Cincinnati for years, and it was like I was taken by surprise, in a way. We had never had a practice together in three years. It’s one thing to watch a player, but to be on the court with him, to see how he responds and how fast he plays, it took me by surprise. Then, going down in scoring – even two out of three – I went right down and that affected my game. Tonight, however, I knew what to expect. He started strong, but I had a lot more confidence that as the match went on I would find a good level and be competitive”.

In the fourth set Felix wasted no less than five break points: “Yes, it is tough. I could explain all those points, but that was it. I was surprised by a slow second serve. I looked for the forehand winner, it could have gone in. If it had gone well, maybe I would have made it to the fifth set, maybe not. I don’t know. I have no regrets. I played my way. I made my own choices. Live or die with your choices, right?””.