Felix Auger-Aliassime celebrated his 18th birthday a day early with a coming of age win.
The dynamic Canadian dismissed 18th-ranked Lucas Pouille, 6-4, 6-3, on Tuesday for his first Top 20 win in his Toronto opener.
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It was an early birthday present for Auger-Aliassime, who celebrates his 18th birthday today.
The youngest man in the ATP Top 150 is already making a name for himself and discussed the story behind his name: it represents both of his parents' surnames.
"So my dad is an African immigrant," Auger-Aliassime told the media in Toronto. "And when my parents arrived in Montreal, I was born and they decided to give me both names.
"The reason why, also my dad insisted that my mom's name was in there just to give me the Quebec recognition, you know, Quebec name, yeah. So that's one of the reason why I have the Auger in my name. And, yeah, I'm planning on keeping it."
Throughout the years, Auger-Aliassime has heard his last name mangled more than a few times.
It doesn't bother him though he clarified he is not an "ogre" as some English speakers say.
"Obviously, sometimes it's always tough, you know," he said. "I hear all kind of things like, obviously, in English, 'Ogre' is just always present. 'Alia-see-may' or whatever. But, no, I don't really wrap myself around. It doesn't really matter if people mispronounce. But, yeah, it's 'Au-shay Alia-sim' for everyone in this room."
The 133rd-ranked Canadian wild card will take on Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev in Toronto tonight hoping to add a victory to his birthday celebration.
Auger-Aliassime shares a birthday with Roger Federer, who turns 37 today. The Canadian teen shared the court with the Grand Slam king during an offseason training camp in Dubai.
"I think he is going to be a very good player," Federer said. "How good remains to be seen. I don't want to put too much pressure on him, to be honest."
Auger-Aliassime said hitting with Federer gave him perspective.
"In general, it was good to see him from up close. He didn't try to give me any, you know, particular advice," Auger-Aliassime said. "He wasn't trying to be my coach or anything. But just to be close to him, talk about tennis in general, just hitting with him was obviously great for my game. I think it helps in these moments, you know, to have hit with the best player, to feel how they play. I think it helps me in these kind of matches, yeah."
Photo credit: Christopher Levy