16-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime is part of a rising crop of Canadian youngsters that plan to make a mark on the Grand Slam stage in the not too distant future. Maybe, sooner than we think.
Denis Shapovalov won the Boys' Singles titles at Wimbledon this year and quickly left the junior game behind. Could Aliassime, this year's U.S. Open Boys' Singles champion, be next?
After winning the U.S. Open Boys’ Singles title on Sunday, defeating Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets, the highly touted Canadian says he is entertaining the notion of leaving the junior ranks behind.
“I have already had some good wins at the pro level. I know I can compete with these guys,” he told reporters after the final. “And now being able to win a slam, make a final on two different surfaces, I think it might be time to go to the next level. But you never know what's gonna happen next year. If I want to go back and play the junior Grand Slams, I will. Yeah, we'll see how it goes, yeah.”
Auger-Aliassime, who shares the same birthday as Roger Federer, became the youngest player to ever win an ATP challenger match as a 14-year-old last summer.
But the Canadian has lost all five Challenger-level matches he has played since then. Still, the 6’1” Montreal native looks like he is going to be a good one someday. He defeated junior world No. 1 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals. “I think everyone has his own path,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Some guys, they win early in juniors but it doesn't go as well in the pros. A guy like Taylor [Fritz] won the US Open last year and was top 100 the year after. No, everyone is kind of different. We'll see how my body feels after this year. We'll make the adjustments that we need to do, yeah.”
16-year-old American Kayla Day won the Girls’ Singles title. After winning a round in the main draw and then falling to Madison Keys (she received a U.S. Open main draw wild card by virtue of winning the Girls' 18 and under nationals this summer), Day only dropped one set in the junior tournament. She defeated Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova in straight sets in the final.
Day says she also has her eye on the pro game, and hopes to make qualifying for the Grand Slams next year. “I think I'm going to play a lot of pro circuit tournaments in the U.S,” she said. “I haven't decided if I'm going to play the junior tournaments at the end of the year, but definitely a lot of pro circuits to build up my ranking to be able to make the Grand Slam quallies next year.”