INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 11, 2021

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Press Conference

F. AUGER-ALIASSIME/D. Schwartzman

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously it wasn't Diego's best match. He's played fantastic here in the past. How much was the key for you to remain focused and not lose your rhythm and allow him back into it?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Yeah, it was tricky conditions overall. A lot of rain, heavy conditions. I think maybe it suited me better. I think he was struggling to find openings on the court. I mean, I took advantage of that. I kept going for my shot with no hesitation, stick to my game plan. I was able to do that well outside of the little bit of slump in the second when I got broken back. I missed a few easy shots.

Outside of that, I mean, it was a complete match from my part. Even though, yes, of course, when there's a score like this you expect one opponent to not play as good. But I'm happy with the way I handled business today.

Q. I believe it's your third top 10 win. How much confidence does that give you every time you get one of those?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: I don't know. I don't think about rankings too much to be honest. Of course, Diego is a tough opponent always. Again, sometimes matches against those ranked 20, 30, 40, are tougher. Of course, most of the time players in the top 10 are tough. For me it's just two men trying to win. That's really what it is.

Q. What were you the most pleased with in terms of your game today?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: I was able to, I don't know, dictate from start to finish without looking back really. At the same time I was able to be solid when I needed to, to kind of get the advantage back in the second set.

I mean, I can be happy also with the way I served. Outside of one game, it was very complete. Yeah, I mean, overall good performance from my part. Straight sets. I can be happy to get through also before the rain and to be in the third round.

Q. I don't know how much you're able to follow right now, but your Habs were able to clinch a playoff spot last night.

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: I saw.

Q. Might you and Denis put a wager on that?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: It's a tricky first round for us. I don't know if there's going to be a bet going. I'm not too much of a better myself. I do hope the best for the Habs and Montreal. They work hard, they deserve it. I hope they can put out a good performance against Toronto, which is always a tough opponent, especially this year.

Yeah, hopefully we'll see a good show and good performance from our boys.

Q. The new technical collaboration you started at the beginning of the clay season with Toni Nadal, are you doing something different in terms of the day-to-day work, preparation? Are you working on something different than what you used to do before?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: I think, no. I'm still who I am in terms of commitment, in terms of intensity, in terms of work ethic. Of course, I think having him there, I think he can be motivating also to push a little bit more sometimes. But in the end I stayed the player that I am. Just trying to improve really.

Toni has always been very present, giving a lot of feedback, very supportive, communicating well. He's not here this week, but we're in touch. Wherever he's there, there's also a lot of live feedback when we practice. Every shot, we see what I could have done better, what I did well.

Overall it's in my whole game, with my forehand getting more and more precise, my backhand getting more and more solid and precise as well. There's many things I can improve. He's helping me on that.