The Miami Open presented by Itau has been the best tournament of #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime’s life. But he doesn’t want to think about his success — at least not yet.

“A lot of things are working, obviously. I think I have been just improving in the past couple of weeks. But I don’t want to look back right now. I think I will do [that] at the end of the tournament,” said Auger-Aliassime, who plays defending champion John Isner in the semi-finals. “Right now I’m looking forward to the next match and how far I can go in this tournament. Definitely I will take some time back home to reset and think about what happened.”

A lot has transpired in Miami for the 18-year-old, and his run is not over yet. Auger-Aliassime went through qualifying to reach the main draw, which was an accomplishment in itself. The teen had never reached the Round of 16 at an ATP Masters 1000 event, yet he is now into the semi-finals.

Felix is one of just six teenagers to ever reach the semi-finals in Miami, and he is the youngest of the bunch. The other five players who have accomplished the feat have all climbed to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. On Monday, Auger-Aliassime will become the first player born in the 2000s to crack the world’s Top 50, projected to move up to at least the mid-30s.

Teenage Semi-finalists In Miami

“It’s a privilege to be compared to all these great players. I think it just shows that I’m doing good things, I’m on the right track,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I think I’m seeing the long term, and right now I’m just enjoying every day, enjoying every match, because you never know what’s going to happen next. I’m really enjoying myself.”

Earlier this event, Auger-Aliassime told ATPTour.com that he is, “not really scared of losing”. Yet he walked on Stadium court inside Hard Rock Stadium on Wednesday evening not expecting to win against last year’s Shanghai finalist Borna Coric.

“Playing Borna, who’s been established for a few years now, I definitely didn’t expect to win,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I expected more, a set like in the first. But the second really surprised me. I felt like I had margin over him, had a bit of an edge. I just felt really comfortable out there from the first ball.”

It’s been a meteoric rise for Auger-Aliassime, who did not break into the Top 100 until 25 February. Since the start of the Rio Open presented by Claro, the right-hander has won 13 of his past 16 tour-level matches. Entering the season, he had just six wins at tour-level. Now he has 20. 

“I think I’m really serving well, so I think it’s putting pressure on them,” said Felix of how he has been troubling opponents. “[It shows] seeing [Borna] double-faulted once in a tie-break and missed a couple of groundstrokes that maybe he wouldn’t normally. I feel with all the matches that I’ve played obviously brings confidence at the end of sets like this when it’s tight.”

The Rio de Janeiro finalist will have a different task ahead of him in 6’10” John Isner, whom he has never previously faced. Isner is plenty confident as well having won 10 consecutive matches in Miami.

“Obviously I think maybe I’ll have to maybe adjust my return position. Maybe see the stats where he’s serving best, look at the match how he played today in these tie-breaks, to see where he likes serving on important points,” Auger-Aliassime said. “From there, just focus on myself, what I have to do first, and then figure out a way to break him.”

Regardless of how that match shakes out, Felix has earned his biggest breakthrough yet on the ATP Tour. And coupled with fellow #NextGenATP Canadian teen Denis Shapovalov, they have shown that the future is bright for Canadian fans.

“Pretty crazy. Everyone is super excited back home,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s great to hear all these good comments from them. It puts a lot of belief in tennis in Canada… there is a lot of belief right now, so it’s great to see.”

A future star has become a present star this week, and with the chance of winning two matches to become an ATP Masters 1000 champion ahead of him, Felix’s star may shine brighter yet by week’s end.

Perth has been named as a host city for the ATP Cup, the most highly anticipated event in world tennis, which will premiere in January 2020.

“The ATP Cup will launch the global tennis season for the men – this is their event, it means a lot to them and they’ve thrown their support behind it 100 per cent,” said Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, as he joined Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts and West Australian Tourism Minister Paul Papalia at the RAC Arena in Perth today.

“Four of the Top 12 male players, and eight of the Top 24, will play in Perth, with 24 teams competing across three cities – Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.

“With 750 ranking points and $22 million in prize money at stake, along with the honour of standing alongside your teammates and representing your country, we know this will be a spectacular and meaningful event for the players,” Tiley continued.

The exciting format will feature two singles and a doubles match per tie. Two sessions a day, with six days of incredible tennis.

The ATP Cup will be part of the biggest summer of international tennis ever on display in Australia, with the Perth, Brisbane and Sydney events running alongside the Brisbane International women’s event. A new combined men’s and women’s tournament in Adelaide, the Hobart International and an upgraded Canberra Challenger event will follow, all leading into the Australian Open at the end of January.

WA Minister for Tourism Paul Papalia MLA is looking forward to welcoming this exciting new global tennis event to Perth in January.

“Tennis holds a special place in the hearts of many WA people, myself included, and the ATP Cup will ensure we build on that tradition and provide fans with more opportunities to experience world-class tennis in Perth.

“This new tournament is expected to attract even more media interest, which will provide a valuable opportunity to promote Perth and our State to a global audience,” Papalia continued.

World No. 1 and President of the ATP Player Council Novak Djokovic has thrown his support behind the ATP Cup.

“I like that it’s owned by ATP, by the players, and that we have ranking points, and it’s going to be the best way to kick start the season. Australia is a country that has a Grand Slam, that nurtures tennis tradition,” Djokovic said.

“More than 90 per cent of the time we’re playing as individuals and we don’t have too many team events. This is going to bring together a lot of nations and for me personally it will be a very nice and proud moment to represent my country.”

“We’re going to kick start the global tennis season every January in Australia with this massive event,” ATP Executive Chairman & President Chris Kermode said.

“We know the ATP Cup will provide a great way to open the season – bringing together the world’s best for a major team event that compliments existing scheduling, provides highly-coveted ATP ranking points and clearly links to the Australian Open.

“The first week of the season is when the players want to play and that’s why the tournament has their strong support. By staging the event with Tennis Australia, which is renowned for its experience as an outstanding event promoter, we know that the tournament will be a great success from year one,” Kermode continued.

“The introduction of the ATP Cup gives us another opportunity to attract new fans to tennis,” Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts said.

“We know these international superstars of our sport will help inspire our kids to pick up a racquet, possibly play competitively and even follow in the footsteps of generations of legendary Australian players. Others may be inspired to have a hit with family and friends, but whatever the level, the end result is not only good for them but good for our community and our nation.”

Top seeds Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo broke three times to return to the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals on Wednesday. Kubot/Melo, 2017 champions, swept fifth seeds Oliver Marach/Mate Pavic 7-6(5), 7-5 and will meet Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in the last four.

The Bryans, five-time Miami champions, saved the only break point they faced and dismissed Rohan Bopanna/Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4.

In the other semi-final, Ivan Dodig/Edouard Roger-Vasselin will meet Wesley Koolhof/Stefanos Tsitsipas. Dodig/Roger-Vasselin beat Maximo Gonzalez/Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 7-6(6), and Koolhof/Tsitsipas knocked out John Isner/Sam Querrey 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.