{"id":837078,"date":"2026-07-31T00:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/837078\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T00:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:51:09","slug":"a-favourite-heading-into-nbo-in-montreal-auger-aliassime-is-set-to-announce-coach-after-u-s-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/837078\/","title":{"rendered":"A favourite heading into NBO in Montreal, Auger-Aliassime is set to announce coach after U.S. Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada’s F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime smiles as he arrives for a media availability ahead of the National Bank Open in Montreal on Thursday.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime\u2019s path to a long-awaited ATP Masters 1000 title has arguably never been more clear.<\/p>\n

The Canadian tennis star would also rather earn it by beating the best.<\/p>\n

Ranked a career-high world No. 4, Auger-Aliassime will be the second seed in the men\u2019s singles draw at the National Bank Open, with the absence of several top stars giving him his best chance yet to win his hometown tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that I\u2019m playing well,\u201d the 25-year-old from Montreal said Thursday. \u201cI feel like I have good chances to play a good tournament, but everything starts from the first day and you have to be on your toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner, No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic \u2013 the three biggest draws in the men\u2019s game \u2013 will miss the tournament for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Sinner and Djokovic withdrew last week after appearing on the entry list, while Alcaraz continues to recover from a wrist injury that forced him to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

Auger-Aliassime grew up a 10-minute drive from IGA Stadium and fondly remembers watching greats Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic from the stands. He called it \u201ca shame\u201d that top players have skipped Canada in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve loved this tournament, especially being from here, since I\u2019m a kid,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve come here to watch the best players \u2013 Roger, Novak, Rafa, they\u2019ve all played here.<\/p>\n

\u201dI would rather have all the best players and beat all the players.\u201c<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada’s F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime plays a shot to an aspiring tennis player during an event designed to introduce and engage youth in tennis ahead of the National Bank Open tournament in Montreal, on Thursday.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The National Bank Open, which alternates men\u2019s and women\u2019s tournaments between Toronto and Montreal each year, holds a difficult spot on the jam-packed tennis calendar. The tournament typically begins two or three weeks after Wimbledon and ends the same day as the Cincinnati Open \u2013 another Masters 1000 event leading into the U.S. Open \u2013 gets underway.<\/p>\n

As for a solution, Auger-Aliassime said those discussions are at the top of the agenda with the ATP.<\/p>\n

\u201dThere\u2019s more and more ideas that are brought up of how we could find a balance of protecting the players and their choices, but also protecting the tournaments,\u201c he said. \u201dIdeas like not being able to skip the same tournament two years in a row, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cGuarantee a tournament that if you don\u2019t get the No. 1 and 2 in the world one year, they will get them the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big names or not, Auger-Aliassime arrives back home playing some of the best tennis of his career \u2013 and without a coach.<\/p>\n

The big-serving Canadian reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, where he fell to Djokovic in an epic five-set match that lasted five hours 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

He announced after the grass-court Grand Slam that it was his final tournament with longtime coach Fr\u00e9dric Fontang, a decision he had made after losing in the French Open quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

Auger-Aliassime did not have an exact timeline, but expected to announce his next coach following the U.S. Open in September, hoping a fresh voice can help him win his first Masters 1000 and Grand Slam titles.<\/p>\n

\u201dIt was time to move on after 10 years, and for me to respect the curiosity I have into learning from different people that might look at my game from a different angle, and just to learn a bit more about the highest level and about the highest standards of tennis,\u201c he said. \u201dWhat I\u2019m looking for is really to improve my game, to improve my tennis as a whole.\u201c<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Auger-Aliassime will work with his father, Sam Aliassime, who he said won\u2019t hesitate to tell him what he needs to hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrings a lot of honesty, but also the unconditional support that every parent has for their kid,\u201d he said. \u201cBeyond being a coach, simply as a dad, he brings me a great deal because in difficult moments, when we have to have tougher conversations or when I need to be better on certain days, I feel he\u2019s always the person who wants what\u2019s best for me and who can give me the honest truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 12-day National Bank Open begins with qualifying Saturday before first-round action. The top 32 seeds receive first- round byes at the US$9.4-million tournament, with top-seeded Alexander Zverev and defending champion Ben Shelton among Auger-Aliassime\u2019s biggest challengers.<\/p>\n

Auger-Aliassime watched closely as Victoria Mboko captivated Montreal with her run to last year\u2019s women\u2019s title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was glued to my screen,\u201d he said. \u201cI could feel the emotions the crowd experienced here … of course I hope to do what she did last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Canadian man has won the tournament\u2019s singles title in the Open era. Auger-Aliassime will have his best opportunity yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Canada’s F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime smiles as he arrives for a media availability ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,2338,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-837078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-montreal","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}