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Four years on, Felix Auger-Aliassime back as a Slam semifinalist
Auger-Aliassime was among the bunch of GenNext faces buzzing on the men’s tour. Then came injuries and a slump
Mumbai: The last time Felix Auger-Aliassime made the semi-final of a Grand Slam, back in the 2021 US Open, he went past Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-final. The last time Auger-Aliassime played Jannik Sinner twice in the same season, back in 2022, he took down the Italian on both occasions.
These couple of fun facts not only reflect how rapidly Alcaraz and Sinner have advanced over the last few years, but also how rocky Auger-Aliassime’s ride has been in contrast.
FAA – as the Canadian was nicknamed back in his younger heyday – was among the bunch of GenNext faces buzzing on the men’s tour, in the company of Alcaraz, Sinner and Holger Rune. Even as Alcaraz, 22, and Sinner, 24, surged into being multiple-time Slam champions, Auger-Aliassime, 25, stagnated and slumped.
He is back up there, in the company of Alcaraz and Sinner as the last four men standing at the US Open. He is back in the semi-final of a Slam, after a 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4) win over 8th seed Alex de Minaur where he felt he “struggled” yet found a way to scrape, after 2021. He is back as the FAA that was on show at the same Arthur Ashe Stadium four years ago.
“Four years ago? It feels like more,” Auger-Aliassime said on court after earning the right to face world No.1 Sinner for a place in the final. “It was a tough couple of years, but it feels even better now to be back in the semi-finals.”
Before enduring those tough couple of years, Auger-Aliassime enjoyed a terrific couple of years.
In 2021, as a 21-year-old ranked just outside the top 10, Auger-Aliassime became the first Canadian US Open men’s singles semi finalist before being halted by eventual champion Daniil Medvedev. He also made the quarter-finals of the 2021 Wimbledon and 2022 Australian Open.
The 2022 season, in particular, stood out with a 60-match win record, a 16-match unbeaten run gobbling up three titles, rise to a career-high world No.6 and the Davis Cup Finals triumph.
From 2023 his slide started, down to a spate of injuries on the knee, back and foot at various points. It took away his form, and despite making a high-profile coaching reinforcement in adding Toni Nadal, uncle and former coach of Rafael Nadal, little worked. Through 2023 and 2024, he suffered five first-round exits in Slams.
“It helps that I had those moments pretty young in my career,” Auger-Aliassime said after the quarter-final. “If I was 35 now, maybe I would doubt if it would ever come again… Even those last few years, I was young enough to (not) think: ‘will I be there?’”
He would, after learning to make “better decisions with my body” and regaining some belief at the start of this season by winning titles in Adelaide and Montpellier. A mid-season blip was followed by the season-ending Slam burst in New York, where the world No.27 beat world No.3 Alexander Zverev (Round 3), No.15 Andrey Rublev (Round 4) and No. 8 de Minaur.
Next up is No.1 Sinner, the same man Auger-Aliassime had beaten twice in 2022. Sinner is not the same player, though. In 2022 Cincinnati, Auger-Aliassime beat Sinner winning in three sets. In 2025 Cincinnati, Sinner beat Auger-Aliassime dropping just two games.
“He’s improved a lot,” Auger-Aliassime said of Sinner, whom he sees as being “unstoppable at times” in New York. “You have to give credit when due, when somebody does the work to improve and they get to that level.”
FAA himself is back up to a level that has troubled top players at this US Open. And, FAA is back in a Slam semi-final.
