Félix Auger-Aliassime was back to his very best at the 2025 US Open.
The Montrealer returned to the semifinals of a major for the first time since 2021 in September and the Canadian No. 1 believes that he is still unfamiliar to many.
“I’m still young, but it’s been a few years and I’m working my way [up],” the former world No. 6 said following his US Open quarter-final win. “[For] some of you, it might be the first time you’re watching me tonight.”
Auger-Aliassime burst onto the ATP scene at a young age and broke multiple records in the process. That’s just a piece of the 25-year-old’s journey to his second major semifinal.
2014-15
Auger-Aliassime joined Tennis Canada’s National Tennis Centre in Montreal in 2014 and his success on the professional stage would soon follow.
In 2015, the Canadian was the youngest player to qualify for an ATP Challenger Tour main draw and, because of this feat, he was the first player born in the 2000s to hold an ATP ranking. Later that year, Auger-Aliassime reached the quarter-final at the Granby Challenger and became the youngest-ever player to crack the Top 800.
2017
At just 16-years-old, Auger-Aliassime was crowned an ATP Challenger champion. The Montrealer won the title in Lyon and then, only a few months later, was triumphant in Seville. Thanks to the pair of titles, Auger-Aliassime broke into the Top 200, becoming the youngest player to do so since Rafael Nadal in 2002.
2018
After his early feats at the Challenger level, it was only a matter of time before Auger-Aliassime made his mark in an ATP main draw. The Canadian made his ATP main tour debut in Rotterdam but lost in the first round.
However, not long after, Auger-Aliassime qualified for his maiden Masters 1000 main draw in Indian Wells and defeated countryman Vasek Pospisil for his first tour-level win. Auger-Aliassime was then awarded wildcards for Monte-Carlo and the National Bank Open before capping off the year by qualifying for the US Open.
The Canuck continued to make history in Challengers during early days on the main tour, becoming the youngest player to defend a title after going back-to-back in Lyon.
2019-20
Auger-Aliassime began to make his fair share of deep runs on the ATP Tour. The Montreal-native reached five finals over two seasons and was soon among the world’s best.
In 2019, Auger-Aliassime earned his first Top 10 win over then world No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas in Indian Wells and became the Miami Open’s youngest-ever semifinalist. The Canadian was seeded at a major for the first time at Wimbledon, with his maiden Grand Slam main-draw win once again coming against Pospisil.
The No. 19 seed made the third round at the All-England Club then one-upped that result at the 2020 US Open, defeating Andy Murray en route to the fourth round.
2021
Coming off career-best finishes at Wimbledon and the US Open, Auger-Aliassime carried that momentum into the 2021 editions of those same majors. The Canuck reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at the All-England Club and then went a round further in Flushing Meadows.
Auger-Aliassime took down Roberto Bautista Agut, Frances Tiafoe, and Carlos Alcaraz (via retirement) to become the youngest player to make the US Open semis since 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro.
The results put the Canadian No. 1 on the verge of cracking the Top 10 before he eventually managed that feat for the first time in his career in November.
2022
Auger-Aliassime waited patiently to get his hands on an ATP Tour trophy, but it was well worth it. The Montrealer won his maiden title in Rotterdam, back where he had made his main-draw debut. Auger-Aliassime added three more titles – Florence, Antwerp, and Basel – before the end of the year, joining a small contingent of players to win three titles in three consecutive weeks.
And with these triumphs came a career-high for the Canadian as he reached No. 6 in the ATP rankings, qualifying for the ATP Finals for the first time
2023-2024
Despite successfully defending his title in Basel, 2023 was a year overshadowed by injury and struggles at majors. Auger-Aliassime suffered three-straight major first-round exits while a knee injury kept him out for a majority of the grass season.
The former world No. 6 fell out of the Top 25 but, in 2024, he bounced back by reaching his maiden Masters 1000 final in Madrid, becoming the first Canadian singles player to make a “Big” clay final.
Auger-Aliassime’s success on the dirt continued at the Olympics in Paris as he because the first Canadian singles player to reach the medal stages. The Canuck came up short of bronze in singles but got his hands on the medal in mixed doubles alongside Gabriela Dabrowski.
2025
2025 started off on a better note, as Auger-Aliassime won two of his first three tournaments, reaching three finals overall in the first two months of the season.
Then came his impressive return to the US Open semifinal. Auger-Aliassime defeated three Top 15 players – Alexander Zverev (3), Andrey Rublev (15), and Alex de Minaur (8) – to make the final four, where he lost a hard-fought battle to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in four sets.
Now, Auger-Aliassime is once again just on the outside looking in on the Top 10, soaring up the rankings from 27th to 13th.
With still some months left in the year, the 25-year-old is within reach of competing among the world’s best at the ATP Finals in Turin.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
