The Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round tie in Quebec City was a homecoming for Félix Auger-Aliassime in more ways than one.
Despite being nominated to Canada’s Davis Cup team for the first time in 2018 and contesting his first match for his country in 2019, Auger-Aliassime had never played for Canada on home soil in Davis Cup competition. That first nomination in 2018 was for a home tie in Toronto, but the then-18-year-old did not see any action.
His wait came to an end this week. And not only did Auger-Aliassime finally get to play a Davis Cup match in Canada for the first time, he got to do it in the city where he was raised, just minutes down the road from the club he played in as a kid.
"It’s very meaningful,” said the Canadian No. 1 of getting to play at home during his post-match press conference. “We may remember the level of play, sometimes we will remember the ups and downs of the match, but I think we remember more the emotions that we all experienced as a team. The crowd too.”
And what a debut it was. The world No. 5 won a pair of matches, including the tie-clinching No. 1 singles match on Saturday over Arthur Rinderknech, in front of the raucous crowd at Centre Videotron (more than 22,000 fans over the two days) to send Canada back to the Davis Cup Final 8 with a 3-1 win over France.
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It was hardly an easy couple of day for the 26-year-old. He needed three sets in both of his singles matches and was three points away from defeat down 2-4 with Rinderknech serving in the second-set tiebreak on Saturday. He also saw his 13-match winning streak in Davis Cup (singles and doubles) snapped.
But none of that matters. A win in a win. And Auger-Aliassime's two contributed to the big W for Canada.
And when the going gets tough, having your teammates on the bench cheering you on can be a huge factor.
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“When it's a tennis match, it's a bit like you enter the arena and then you go with your guts. You try to find solutions. It's true that in a team, there's the captain, but I keep communication very limited. With the rest of the team, I'm going to look for encouragement. There's a positive spirit, trying to keep the morale high when things aren't going well. I think the message is that there are difficult moments; we have more resources sometimes than we all think. Then we try to trust each other."
The final attendance for the two-day tie was 22,340, a record for a Davis Cup tie held in Canada. And the crowd’s energy played a huge role in their nation’s victory.
“We were 11,000 on court,” said Auger-Aliassime in his on-court interview.
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He elaborated in his press conference, saying “That's the energy you want in a nation, in a community. Everyone encourages each other to do great things and we encourage success. And now we've been seeing the success of tennis in Canada for several years. I'm happy that people come and encourage us in those moments. And I really felt a sense of pride throughout the weekend, that no matter what was happening on the court, the ups and downs, that people were behind us.”
“The Quebec City crowd was amazing. I really felt the energy when I needed it,” said Duncan Chan, who made his Davis Cup debut for Canada on Saturday in the doubles match alongside Auger-Aliassime. “We were down in some games in the first set and their energy helped us get through those tough ones. Without them, it would have been a much more difficult match.”
Despite being the star of the weekend, Auger-Aliassime was insistent that the tie experience was not about him, and not even really about Team Canada. It was about the fans and building sport in this country.
“I think that the objective of having the Davis Cup at home is to make the young and not-so-young dream, and to promote tennis, which is a sport that I have loved since I was a child. Obviously, all my teammates, the captain, we are all passionate about tennis, but we try to connect with many other people,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I hope that the meaning will be that a match like this will have a greater impact than just today, than two days of tennis. But if it can inspire a young person to play tennis, to go to university thanks to tennis, or even to become a professional in their sport, it would be wonderful if it inspires them or at least gives a positive example.”
And now it's on to Bologna, Italy, in November. Team Canada’s roster for the Final 8 will not be announced until closer to the event and there is no guarantee that Auger-Aliassime will be available. He was not able to play for Canada when they last made the trip to Italy in 2023, a Davis Cup week they dominated even without him with eight wins in nine matches across three tie wins in the Finals Group Stage.
But the last time the Canadian No. 1 participated in the knockout stage of the Davis Cup, he led his country to the title.
CLICK HERE for everything you need to know about the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round tie in Quebec City between Canada and France.
Feature Photo: Pascal Ratthe
