Auger-Aliassime on Unplugged Power at Wimbledon

By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, June 29, 2026
Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty

Wimbledon—Flying through his Wimbledon opener, Felix Auger-Aliassime shared his approach to the grass-court Grand Slam.

The 2025 US Open semifinalist unplugs from social media completely while plugging into tennis fandom watching Wimbledon diligently on his days off.

That approach paid off in his opener as Auger-Aliassime whipped 15 aces against one double fault and did not face a break point in a clean 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 sweep of Alexander Shevchenko in round one.

Seed third, his highest Wimbledon seed, Auger-Aliassime said muting the noise around the tournament helps him stay focused.

“One thing I have put in place for, I don’t know, I can’t remember now, quite some years is just staying off social media. You know, as simple as that,” Auger Aliassime told the media on Monday. “Staying off what’s said about yourself, what’s said about others. There is a lot of noise out there.

“And I do enjoy that part as well the rest of the year, and I enjoy that people give interest to our sport and talk about it, but I stay away from that. I like to watch sports. We have the World Cup going on right now, so you can watch sport but not yours.

“On off days I also watch a lot of tennis. I love watching. Obviously it’s a different side of the draw, so you get to see other players you’re not going to face until the final…I disconnect but also stay connected to watching the game, and I find it very interesting.”

Auger-Aliassime improved to 8-6 lifetime at SW19 as he aims to improve on last year’s second-round exit to Jan-Lennard Struff.

In round two, Auger-Aliassime will face Croatian Dino Prizmic with the winner of that match taking on either American qualifier Michael Zheng or 165th-ranked Colombian Nicolas Mejia for a fourth-round spot.

“I feel good. Never easy to start a Grand Slam. There’s nerves,” Auger-Aliassime said. “We are
playing, like, Wimbledon. We don’t get to practice on all the courts. So, you know, Court 2, a court I have played before. I have had good moments, tough moments there.

“So you’re not sure how you are going to feel about the court, how your opponent is going to play. I really just took care of what’s in my control really well. My serve didn’t get broken, didn’t give him a lot of chances. And I felt the rest of my game, sometimes it’s tricky, was at a high level. Very pleased with how I played.”