To understand the difficulty of shining at the top of men’s tennis, re-read this statement by Felix Agar-Aliassime last Friday after qualifying for the semi-finals of the Paris tournament.
Posted at 7:45 am
“It’s crazy: it’s my first semi-final in a Masters 1000 series tournament. [contre John Isner] in Miami in 2019. At that time, I didn’t expect to be there and I thought: “Oh my God, I’m sure I’m going to make other semi-finals in the Masters tournament”, but in the end, it took me three years to achieve it again. »
Three years, no less! And we are talking about one of the most talented players of his generation here. Sure enough, Auger-Aliassime played in an even bigger semi-final at the 2021 US Open and the competition was fierce.
An example: When Agar-Aliasim faced Isner in Miami, the names Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Roon did not play the chronicle. Both are only 15 years old. The Spaniard captured about 500 mene World rank and Dane, 1000e.
Their progress was meteoric. Alcaraz won the US Open last September – as well as the world number one – and Rooney defeated Novak Djokovic in the final of the Paris tournament on Sunday.
Today, in the four corners of the world, 14, 15 and 16-year-old aspirants unknown to the general public are upping their game and some are soon to be stars…