So far the union of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Uncle Toni Nadal has not yet produced a Grand Slam title. The duo are now in their third season together as a team. I will share these old archive quotes from Felix about why he originally decided to work with Nadal…
“We’ve been working since December (2020). I think it was a good decision for me. I think he’s helped me improve maybe the consistency of my game, the quality of my movement, my focus. Mainly I think the big thing overall is the belief and the confidence that he brings to myself and everybody involved in my team. I think on one part you have Frederic (Fontang), my main coach, I would say has been with me since I’m very young, that knows me in every aspect of myself and my game. He has the long-term vision for me. You have Toni that has been in the places that we want to go one day, winning these big tournaments, being No. 1 in the world. I think he brings that belief that this is something doable, something we can achieve if we do the right things, work in the right direction.”
“It’s been good to work with him. He’s bringing a lot of instant feedback, always pushing to do things a little bit better, but also telling me when things are good, when they’re in the right direction. Yeah, it’s been great work. Every time I try to bring a lot of focus, intensity into the practices. It’s been good. I think it’s paying off well. With Rafa, we actually just practiced once, if I recall, in December. We interact of course on the tour and other moments, not just at the academy. But nothing crazy. Toni and I sometimes talk about what I could do better, what I can still improve. I think, of course, Rafa with me, he doesn’t mention anything about my game.”
Nadal leads the head to head vs Felix 2-1, Nadal won the first meeting in 2019 63 63 in Madrid, then Nadal won the second at 2022 French Open round of 16 in five sets. Felix won the last match last year at ATP WTF round robin 63 64.
The 22 year old Felix is now ranked no. 6 in the world – when he started working with Nadal he was ranked 21 in the world. The Canadian won all four of this ATP singles titles last year – in Basel, Antwerp, Florence and Rotterdam, all on hard court.
The no. 5 seed in Miami will play his first match vs. Thiago Monteiro of Brazil, a man he holds a 2-0 career record against, with both of their clashes contested at Grand Slams in the first round – 2020 US Open 63 67 76 76 and 2021 Wimbledon 63 63 63.
adidas · Babolat · Canada · Felix Auger-Aliassime · Miami Open · Uncle Toni
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