Felix Auger-Aliassime has an appointment, and not just any appointment.
Set to marry his longtime girlfriend, Nina Ghaibi, in a few weeks, the Canadian is being fitted for his wedding suit. Good thing he scheduled it for September 8, the day after the 2025 US Open men’s final.
It’s almost as if he plans on sticking around for the trophy ceremony.
“That’s what I’m here for, right?” asked Auger-Aliassime on Labor Day in Flushing Meadows, where he clinched a spot in the quarterfinals via a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Andrey Rublev, back into the elite eight for the first time in four years.
The 25-year-old Québecois says his return to the 24,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium on Day 9 was especially sweet. He had played there before, of course, a rising star and former US Open boys’ singles champion. But these last few years haven’t been easy.
After reaching a career-high No. 6 in 2022, the year he the year he posted a personal-best 60-win season, including a 16-match win streak with three titles in as many weeks in Florence, Antwerp and Basel, the year he swept team titles at the ATP Cup, Laver Cup and Davis Cup, he experienced a rankings slide. Scattered injuries—knee, back, foot, etc.—didn’t help. He would fall to a five-year low of No. 36 last spring.
When he last played in Ashe, in 2021, he was a wide-eyed 21-year-old, toting some big expectations. He topped American Frances Tiafoe and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in succession that year en route to the semifinals, which to this day remains his deepest run at a major. He became the first-ever Canadian US Open men’s singles semifinalist, and the youngest since 20-year-old Juan Martin del Potro in 2009. In hindsight, it was all a blur.
This time around, he says, it carries some added weight; in his own words, it’s a little “more deserved”.
“I think I know myself better,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I know, ‘Okay, this is a pain I can play with’, and, ‘This is maybe a pain where I need to consult someone and maybe get better before I step back on the court’. I think at 21, 22, sometimes you just go out there until the wheels fall off. I think I’m making better decisions with my body.”
The tour’s hottest player through the first two months of 2025, Auger-Aliassime was the first to two titles on the year, claiming ATP 250 trophies in Adelaide and Montpellier. In advancing to his fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal here in New York—the first Canadian man to do so on multiple occasions—the uber-athletic all-courter has shown that he can flip the script. He was 2-6 against Alexander Zverev until a 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4 comeback in the third round in Louis Armstrong Stadium; and 1-7 against Rublev until his victory in the Round of 16. Next up is Aussie Alex de Minaur; finally, a player he has a winning record against (2-1). Suddenly, he’s set to return to the Top 20.
Maybe it’s his self-belief. Maybe it’s all that meditation—a practice, he says, that can come in handy in turning points, when matches are on the line.
“It’s very important for me,” said Auger-Aliassime. “In those tight moments, you want to come on the court in the right state of mind. There’s a lot of excitement around in our world today, but on the court, we need to be very calm-headed, especially in the pressure moments. For me, it’s kind of a routine that I have before matches. It helps to calm me down in those big-pressure moments.”
It might come in handy against de Minaur, too. And, who knows, maybe even into the final weekend at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. And wouldn’t that be fitting?
