LAVER CUP

September 25, 2022

Patrick McEnroe

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Press Conference

F. AUGER-ALIASSIME/N. Djokovic

6-3, 7-6

Team Europe - 8

Team World - 10

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Felix Auger-Aliassime and Patrick McEnroe.

Questions.

Q. How good did that feel today?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Yeah, it felt great, for sure. You know, one of my best wins so far, for sure, in my career. You know, to back it up after the doubles, it was super important for the team.

But at the same time, you know, the competition is not over. We came here with one goal was to win it all, and now we have a good chance, yes, but the work is not finished.

Personally, of course, I'm happy, and it feels good. But it will feel even better if we can win the whole thing.

Q. Felix, obviously Novak did win two matches yesterday, but the only ones from Team Europe that have lost are the big four. What do you think that says about you young guys both on Team World, and then also Tsitsipas and Ruud on Team Europe?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: I missed one part of the question. The thing about the big four?

Q. For Team Europe, they obviously lost their matches. I know Djokovic won yesterday but you beat him today, Andy lost, Federer and Nadal lost their doubles. What do you think it is about you young guys that's kind of making that happen?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Okay, well, of course the big four, Novak and Rafa have been still playing amazing this year and last year. Federer hadn't played in a while, so I think for sure it was difficult for him to get out there. They had a match point to win. That's just doubles against a quality team like Jack and Frances. It was just great doubles. Then de Minaur played an amazing match against Andy.

I don't know. I don't look at it as a whole. It's case-by-case, match-by-match. But it does say that, yes, of course, the young players like myself and others on this team, on the whole circuit, are knocking on the door of the big, big trophies, big tournaments, beating these guys more and more.

So, yeah, I think it's also a normal process of a change of guard, yeah.

Q. Felix, a great win today. You mentioned how recently you've been pretty close to beating, you said great champions, I'm assuming you're especially talking about Novak and Rafa. You know, you pushed Novak pretty hard in Rome. Nobody got a set off him that week, you took him quite close. Then you were the only one to take Rafa to five sets at Roland Garros. How much confidence did you take from those two matches going into today?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Yeah, those, and then the Medvedev in Australia and others, you know.

I had a great first set after coming back from that break down, and then second set, of course, leading a break, but the way I was serving I felt like I was right there.

Yeah, I missed a few forehands and got broken back. But, you know, I felt like super positive and I just remembered, you know, those tough losses and I just felt like I didn't want that to happen today. Or if it did, I really wanted for him to earn it, for him to hit the tough shots, hit the winners. But I really felt like at the end of the match, tiebreak, I locked in and I wasn't going to give him anything.

Of course, I think also, yeah, the pain a little bit from those past losses came in today in my mind. I didn't want that to happen again.

Q. Felix, when you play these guys, Novak, Rafa, you obviously believe that you're going to win but to actually have done it now, how big do you think that will be going into '23, knowing next time you do step on court against those guys that you've actually done it, put it into practice?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Yeah, the last two weeks I've had two great wins under my belt, Carlos and now here Novak. Of course personally it's great confidence for me going forward. So I'm going to try to -- and also understand, you know, why these wins are coming. I think that's the main key. You can't just think, Oh, it happened, it will happen again magically.

I think for me it's about understanding what are my strengths and how am I able to win against these guys? And then being able to repeat that times after times. I think, yeah, when I do that, good things will come.

But I still need to work, you know, to keep that kind of consistency in my game.

Q. Patrick, what was the logic or the strategy behind putting him back to back today for those crucial matches?

VICE CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, first of all, we thought it was our best chance in the doubles. That was No. 1 was to put our best team out there. Felix is a strong young man. So we weren't worried about him playing back to back. It's two sets and a tiebreak potentially.

So in retrospect we look like geniuses because he played so well to win the doubles and singles. But you have to go out there and get it done. There's no guarantee any of those things are going to happen when you make the lineup. You just try to put the best team out there.

We had a great full-team discussion last night about what our options were. At the end of the night, we all agreed that was our best option.

Q. Felix, you were just saying about some of the wins you've had and you want to think about them as to why you got those wins, et cetera. Is there a risk of maybe thinking too much about those sort of results and just playing freely?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: I didn't mean it in a way of overthinking. It's more in a way that when -- because when I go in the match, to be honest, I don't overthink too much, or like I don't think about myself, my game. I more think tactically, what's working, what can I change, what's working well, but then it's instinct once the point starts.

When you have time on a practice court after, that's when you really, you know, try to work on your strength, try to perfect them, try to make them even more instinctive, and then you work on the things you can improve so that you become a more complete player.

So that's more in the way that I think about it. To go back next week on the practice court, see, going forward at the end of the year, and then in the offseason getting ready for the first slam next year, what are the things that are important for me to master and to control in my game so once I get out there I'm playing freely like I did today, and I'm playing, you know, with my instinct.

Q. Felix, you were excellent also in the ATP Cup at the beginning of the year. Is there something about team events that bring out the best in you?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: This year definitely. Even in the past, I remember I have good memories from when I was a junior also playing in team events.

I guess yes, I like playing in those events feeling I can bring something not only to myself but to the team. I feel like it pushes me also to stay positive, to dig deep, that feeling that I'm not only playing for myself, I'm trying to bring something to the team, bring a point to the team.

So, yeah, it's been working well. I mean, I don't want to jinx anything going forward in my career, but so far, yeah, I have always liked stepping up to a challenge whenever I needed to in team events.