Tennis: a mother on the circuit

PARIS | At 10, Félix Auger-Aliassime was going to a event overseas with out his mother and father. And so far as she will be able to keep in mind, her mother by no means acquired a name from her little boy saying he was bored of dwelling.

• Read additionally: Felix's Big Opportunity

” Never ! laughs Marie Auger, who met The newspaper Friday, at Roland-Garros, a few hours earlier than this victory which might give his son his ticket for the conflict this morning towards the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.

Yet the household is tightly knit. But Felix is ​​an impartial, notes his mother.

“He was all the time very proud to be impartial. Even as we speak, it's he who makes his choices for his profession. Of course, he consults his agent, his coaches, his mother and father. But he's very sensible in his decisions. »

So a lot in order that neither Marie nor her father, Sam Aliassime, have traveled a lot with son. But this season is completely different. M^me Auger, a faculty trainer, determined to take a half-year sabbatical to accompany her large boy on the circuit.

Up to Wimbledon

From Rotterdam in February – the place Félix gained his first ATP title – she has traveled the planet by his facet.

Marseille, Indian Wells, Miami, the European clay tour, and now Paris: she was in all places, solely returning to Quebec for a few days at the finish of March. She will thus observe her son to Wimbledon.

“It's a choice that comes from me. I will probably be 50 this yr, my son has been on the highway since he was very small, she explains. There I believed it was the proper time, whereas his profession goes properly. »

Marie Auger was additionally ready for Felix to be prepared. Because, keep in mind, he's an impartial. “For some years, he advised us that it made him comfortable after we accompanied him to a event typically, however that he appreciated higher to handle his issues together with his coaches. »

And Felix was prepared. His mother doesn't go to the competitors website with him daily, however she attends matches and a few practices.

Is she nervous when her son is about to leap on the discipline? “Not really, I've learned to control it,” she stated. I inform myself that when he will get able to play, the work has been achieved by his coaches. »

“There are instances when I've palpitations, like at the finish of the match. But it is like I'm on a airplane and he is the pilot. »

Glamorous, however demanding

But the remainder of the time, when she's not at the stadium, what does Marie Auger do? She visits. Because his son has performed in a few stunning cities this yr, even earlier than arriving in Paris. Rome, Barcelona… she's by no means bored.

But she sees how demanding the lifetime of a skilled athlete is.

“We usually affiliate it with the glamorous facet, however glamor is demanding! she says. We are all the time between two suitcases and choices are made shortly. He loses at a event, and we return the subsequent day to a different event, relying on the flights. »

“Sometimes we've time to go dwelling to the south of France for a stopover, however usually it is instantly from one event to a different. »

Like at dwelling

The presence of M.^me Auger brings some normalcy to this hectic life. Sometimes, in tournaments, the clan rents a home relatively than staying in a lodge. This will not be the case in Paris, however it will likely be at Wimbledon, in a month.

This permits Félix's mother to prepare dinner the meals and free the complete crew from sure duties.

“We have shut ties with coaches, physiotherapists, she factors out. It will not be unusual for us all to search out ourselves at the similar desk.

“I consider that Félix feels this cohesion and that it's a wholesome atmosphere for him, provides M^me Auger. It retains him related to his roots, however at the similar time, he has all the freedom to emancipate himself in his sport. »

Autographs and selfies

Marie Auger has lengthy been “sharing” her boy with the complete planet. He was solely 15 years previous and already, his precocious performances triggered worldwide speak.

She sees it an increasing number of. No matter the metropolis, it's now troublesome for the duo to go to a restaurant with out the ninth in the world being challenged for autographs or selfies.

“As a parent, you're never prepared to have a child who has a public life,” she says. When I arrive in a metropolis and see his image plastered on the buses, there's something a little surreal!

“But for me, Felix stays Felix. When we're at dwelling, I overlook all that. But I do know it is a part of his profession and he performs that function very properly. He by no means will get impatient and is all the time very beneficiant together with his time. »

On the circuit, Félix Auger-Aliassime has the repute of being a good man. Polite, honest play. Well-behaved, in brief.

Of course that made his mother comfortable. She is even talked about by different gamers when she enters the transport that takes her to the completely different stadiums.

“Me it makes me much more comfortable when I'm advised that Félix is ​​a good individual, that he's clever, as a result of me as a guardian, I didn't elevate a tennis participant. I accompanied a little one in order that he was an grownup who felt snug in his personal pores and skin.

“It has all the time been a household mission, together with his father, even when we're divorced. And I take a look at him, and it is true that he's like that. But as a guardian, you possibly can't take all the credit score for that. »

philosophy and economics

Very younger, Félix and his sister Malika, two years his senior and who additionally performed tennis, have been surrounded by many adults. At the Auger-Aliassime's, throughout household suppers or with mates, there was no desk for the youngsters.

“Our youngsters have all the time interacted with a lot of adults. And that developed the indisputable fact that Félix discusses all types of topics. As a lot about philosophy as about the financial system or the conflict in Ukraine. He is curious, he's thinking about many issues. »

So even when his son stopped his research after secondary 5, to focus on his profession as a participant, his mother notes that he stays thinking about many topics. “That too helps make him an eloquent person,” she believes.

But economics, philosophy, worldwide politics… is your son nonetheless critical like that, Mr.^me Auger?

” Oh no ! Felix loves humor. Still [vendredi] at lunch, he bumped into a French comic and he was exhibiting me this. I discover it so refreshing to see him like that.

“In tournaments, we regularly take heed to movies like Good Cop, Bad Cop the place the The Boys. And he screwed up! He's a critical man, however off the pitch he likes to chuckle. He doesn't have many alternatives to stay his youth, however as quickly as he has the alternative, he takes benefit of it. »

household historical past

NO MORE TENNIS DURING THE CORN ROASTS

Tennis was not initially Marie Auger's mission, however that of Félix's father, Sam Aliassime, who additionally launched his eldest, Malika.

The mother of the ninth world participant performed a little there, in fact, when she met Sam Aliassime. If she nonetheless typically exchanges balls along with her daughter, who “agrees to play at her level”, she not does so along with her son.

And so is the prolonged household. At one time, Auger-Aliassime struck a little together with his relations throughout corn roasts and different conferences. Not anymore. “It's his job, he no longer wants to play with his mother or his sister,” says Marie Auger.

The latter doesn't name herself a “tennis fan”. “There are gamers that I get to know and love, she says, nonetheless. And typically I keep to see the different Canadians. »

Communication

BILINGUALISM DEVELOPED IN TOURNAMENT

Marie Auger is stunned when she hears Félix talking in English. “Me, it fascinates me that he speaks each French and English. That is totally as much as him! she says.

Except for a few instances, on journeys, once they had enjoyable speaking in English for an hour, the Auger-Aliassimes didn't actually apply the language of Shakespeare collectively.

“His English, he learned a little at school, but it is rare for a student to come out of the completely bilingual school network. It was especially in the junior tournaments, with children from all over, that he started to speak English,” says his mother.

Moreover, if he doesn't communicate these languages ​​fluently, the Quebecer can also be capable of order at the restaurant in Spanish and Italian, underlines Ms.^me Auger.

rotterdam

THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO COME TO RELEASE HIM OF THE PRESSURE

A weight fell off Felix's shoulders when he gained his first ATP title in Rotterdam in February. “When he came to join us in the box, there was a moment when all the tension fell,” his mother stated.

But the satisfaction of L'Ancienne-Lorette will not be completed with the strain. “We talked about it after its title, says Marie Auger. It is troublesome to handle the expectations of the media, of analysts. But there, after a victory, individuals are ready for his second. They additionally marvel if he'll win a Grand Slam. »

In this context, Félix's mother welcomes the rise of younger folks like the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, with whom the 21-year-old participant will be capable of handle the expectations weighing on the new era.