Felix Auger-Aliassime was unable to cope with the changes Jannik Sinner made to his game in the Paris Masters final.
Auger-Aliassime led the head-to-head against Sinner 2-0 until August this year, and he has since lost to the Italian three times.
This includes matches at the Cincinnati Open and the US Open, with the latest coming when Sinner beat Auger-Aliassime in the Paris Masters final.
Sinner was full of praise for Auger-Aliassime after the final, and now the Canadian’s coach has spoken about the Paris Masters champion.
Frédéric Fontang pinpoints the two improvements he has noticed in Jannik Sinner
Frédéric Fontang has coached Auger-Aliassime since January 2017, and has been at the helm for all five of his matches against Sinner.
Sinner, who became world number one again after beating Auger-Aliassime, spoke about wanting to make changes to his game after losing to Carlos Alcaraz and the US Open final, and now Fontang has revealed what he noticed about the Italian.
When speaking to L’Equipe, Fontang spoke about the improvements Sinner has made to both his forehand and physical conditioning.
“He’s improved his forehand,” said Fontang. “Before, he was a bit more “off-target.” Now, he’s less off-target (smiles). We can also see that he wants to add variety, like with some of his drop shots. He’s said it himself, he wants to introduce more unpredictability into his game.
“Although we haven’t seen much of that here, because it’s indoors. But his biggest improvement in recent years has been his physical conditioning, allowing him to maintain a pace while expending less energy.”
Felix Auger Aliassime’s coach suggests if he thinks he can close the gap on Jannik Sinner
Auger-Aliassime has risen up the rankings once again after continuing his good run, which has included reaching the US Open semifinals, the Paris Masters final and winning his eighth title in Brussels.
Despite this, Auger-Aliassime is still not at the level of Sinner and Alcaraz, who Fontang has heaped praise on.
“They are superior for different reasons,” said Fontang. “Alcaraz brings variety to his game, is very offensive, and capable of doing many things.
“Sinner brings consistency. What he does is incredibly solid, at high speed without expending too much energy. He’s a ‘Djoko Plus’. He serves better. His forehand is faster…”
Fontang was then asked if he finds the dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz demoralizing when coaching a player who wants to challenge them, but the Frenchman actually suggested the opposite.
“On the contrary! It motivates us to improve,” responded Fontang. “Felix was affected in 2023 by a loss against Alcaraz at Indian Wells, because he had always beaten him.
“But when you drop in the rankings, you end up playing against these players less often… You have to stay in touch to play them and improve. That’s important.”
Auger-Aliassime does not currently know if his season is over yet, as he is still in contention for the ATP Finals.
The Canadian is currently in a position to qualify for the year-end tournament, but after withdrawing from the ATP 250 tournament in Metz it is no longer in his hands and will depend on how Lorenzo Musetti fares in Athens.
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