By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday July 5, 2021
Felix Auger-Aliassime is grateful for a hard-earned trip to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and a very special moment not just for himself, but also for Canada.
After the Canadian finished off Alexander Zverev in five sets, 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, on Monday at Wimbledon he talked about how much the moment meant to him.
“I think my celebration was very honest and genuine,” he said. “It's a big milestone for me in my young career. You want to play well in the Grand Slams, especially here being my favorite tournament.”
Auger-Aliassime says the roller coaster ride with Zverev made it even more special.
“Also the way it happened, so many ups and downs,” he said. “Break in both first sets, coming back to win those, losing the next two, then again struggling to finish in the fifth. This match really had everything. I had to dig deep physically and mentally. Of course it makes it even sweeter.”
Auger-Aliassime’s efforts also pushed Canadian tennis to a massive milestone. For the first time in history two Canadian men—Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov—have reached the quarterfinals of the same Grand Slam.
“In the back of your mind you also have everybody back home,” Auger-Aliassime said. “The tons of message I receive after from people that have helped me to get where I am today. It means a lot. For me to give this back to them is also great. It feels really good. It's teamwork. The country's behind us. My city is behind me. It's really good to do that, to have this much support. Again, a great day for us Canadians and hopefully it keeps going.”
Good buddy Berrettini next
Next up Auger-Aliassime will square off with an old pal from Italy—Matteo Berrettini.
As it turns out the pair gets along rather well.
“Both our girlfriends are cousins, so it just happens that we spend a lot of time together,” Auger-Aliassime said. “He's one of my best friends on the tour. He's really a great guy, great person. I get along really well with him. Since we're in the bubble, we have dinners together sometimes. We watch the game together. Yeah, I'm happy to call him a good friend. I think it's good to get to play each other. We both have had a great tournament so far. We'll try to leave it all out there, and it's going to be good.”