Photo: Martin Sidorjak
The Lionel Conacher Award is given by The Canadian Press annually to Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year
Tennis Canada would like to extend its congratulations to Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montréal, QC) on being named the 2022 recipient of the Lionel Conacher Award for Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year by The Canadian Press. This is the fourth occasion the accolade has been won by a tennis player after Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) collected the award in 2013 and 2014 with Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON) following in 2017.
”It’s been a great year, so to receive this award (Lionel-Conacher) — recognition from the Canadian public and media — is quite an honour. It’s really nice,” said Auger-Aliassime, after a training session before the World Tennis League in Dubai.
“Félix could not be more deserving of this prestigious award,” said Michael Downey, President and CEO, Tennis Canada. “Not only did he excel on the ATP Tour, winning his first-career title and then three consecutive finals later in the year, but he also led Team Canada to its very first Davis Cup championship with distinction. Félix is an incredible tennis player, but also a great person. We are proud of his achievements this year and know that his performances on and off the court will have inspired the next generation of tennis players in Canada.”
The 22-year-old Auger-Aliassime finished the year with a career-high ranking of No. 6 on the ATP Tour. His 2022 season began in impression fashion as he played a pivotal role in Team Canada winning the ATP Cup in Sydney, Australia. The following month, Auger-Aliassime claimed his first-career singles title at the ATP 500 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
He added to his collection by winning consecutive events in Florence, Antwerp (both ATP 250), and Basel (ATP 500) in a three-week span. His exploits on the ATP Tour earned him a place at the year-end Finals at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy in November. Before that, the Quebecor was also part of Team World which won the Laver Cup at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom in September.
Auger-Aliassime’s crowning moment of the year came in Malaga, Spain, where he led Team Canada presented by Sobeys to its first-ever Davis Cup by Rakuten title, winning all three of his singles rubbers. His straight-sets, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the decisive second singles rubber of the final clinched the trophy and Canada’s place as World Champions.
“In 2022, Félix proved that he is among the very best players in the world,” commented Guillaume Marx, Head of Performance, Tennis Canada. “His talent on the court is matched by his maturity and intelligence off it. This year, he has shown the world that he is in that top bracket of players and we’re sure that his ambitions will be even higher in 2023. Canadians will forever remember his crucial victories in the run to our first ever Davis Cup title during which he showed such immense composure under pressure. He thoroughly deserves this recognition.”
