Auger-Aliassime lost in the Paris Masters final to Jannik Sinner, but he has still been rewarded for his run as a result.
It has been a very impressive second half to the year for the Canadian, with Auger-Aliassime rising up the rankings after reaching the final in Paris, as well as the US Open semifinals and winning a title in Brussels.
Auger-Aliassime has admitted he made mistakes against Sinner in the final, and now Grand Slam doubles champion Ryan Harrison has told him what he needs to improve to reach that next level.
Ryan Harrison tells Felix Auger-Aliassime how he can become a top five player
Auger-Aliassime has a career-high ranking of world number six, which he achieved in 2022 and is currently closing in on that as the world number eight.
There has been a lot of focus on Auger-Aliassime trying to close the gap on Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but the aforementioned Harrison has spoken more specifically about how the Canadian can become a top five player for the first time.
Harrison has particularly highlighted Auger-Aliassime’s backhand as his biggest weakness, but he did claim that he has noticed some improvements.
“If you’re Felix, you have to play with your forehand,” Harrison said on Sky Sports. “The spot on the court where Sinner was opening him up was the backhand, that is where most the unforced errors were coming into play.
“When you are looking at the fact that his backhand is improving, it’s just not quite there yet, but it’s getting better. It is getting closer and closer.
“If he can continue this confidence that he has on indoor courts the way that he does throughout the year, if he can maintain that level, he will find himself in the top five in the world.”
Ryan Harrison says what Felix Auger-Aliassime has been ‘doing so well’
While Harrison believes that more work still needs to be done on Auger-Aliassime’s backhand, he also praised him for using a tactic during the final to try and limit the number of errors he was making.
This was related to Auger-Aliassime coming to the net, which he did 13 times during the final against Sinner, 11 of which resulted in him winning the point.
“Felix is playing really well in transition,” Harrison added. “At the net he is trying to make those adjustments when needs be. When he is getting exposed in the backhand corner the one way you can hide that a bit is by getting into the net, and that is what he was doing and doing so well.”
Since losing in the Paris Masters final, Auger-Aliassime has made the surprise decision to withdraw from the ATP 250 event in Metz.
This decision has come despite Auger-Aliassime not yet being confirmed to have qualified for the ATP Finals, with his fate now in the hands of Lorenzo Musetti, who could overtake him if he reaches the final in Athens.
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