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Canada’s tennis success story continues to add new chapters at a dizzying pace, with Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez reaching the semifinals of the US Open for the first time in their short careers.
Auger-Aliassime, 21, and Fernandez, 19, are part of a new wave of Canadian tennis stars that are changing the image of their country to reflect the growing diversity of the game.
Their breakthrough in New York marks Canada’s first-ever two singles semi-finalists at the US Open. It comes after other Canadian successes at the Grand Slams: Bianca Andreescu won the 2019 US Open women’s singles title, and Denis Shapovalov reached the men’s semi-finals at this year’s Wimbledon.
It remains an amazing story. Canada, which is famous for its harsh winters, suffers from a shortage of indoor courts and a shortage of young players compared to more established tennis countries such as the United States, France and Germany. Canada’s top athletes still tend to gravitate towards ice hockey, soccer, and other activities.
All four young Canadian tennis stars have at least one immigrant parent. Auger-Aliassime and Fernandez were born and raised in Montreal.
“It’s great for Canada, it’s great for Quebec,” Auger-Aliassime said on Tuesday. “I never thought a day like this would come: a little girl and a little boy from Montreal at the same time in the semifinals of the US Open. It’s special for us. I hope the people at home also appreciate this moment. We do a lot.”
Auger-Aliassime is biracial. Her mother, Marie Auger, is French Canadian, and her father, Sam Aliassime, immigrated to Canada from Togo. Fernandez’s mother, Irene, was born in Toronto to a family originally from the Philippines. Fernandez’s father and coach, Jorge, immigrated to Canada with his family from Ecuador at the age of 4.
Born near Toronto, Andreescu is the only child of Romanian immigrants. Born in Tel Aviv, Shapovalov is the son of a Russian father and a Ukrainian mother.
“I think we all share this immigrant story,” Andreescu said in a recent interview. “I can definitely relate to a lot of people in Canada because I think it’s multicultural and we can all be inspirational that way.”
Sport remains a ramp to success in many cultures for immigrant families, and professional tennis is full of examples. Retired American star Andre Agassi is the son of an Iranian Olympic boxer; Another retired American star, Michael Chang, is the son of Taiwanese immigrants. Alexander Zverev, a semi-finalist at this year’s US Open, was born in Germany to a Russian family.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Jorge Fernandez said in an interview Wednesday. “Immigrant families bring a lot of hard work with them to court. They bring a lot of endurance and willingness to sacrifice. They may not know anything about sports, but they know what it’s like to work hard.”
Jorge Fernandez was a professional football player, not a competitive tennis player, and had taught himself about the game like Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus Williams. Auger-Aliassime’s father is a tennis coach with an academy in Quebec City.
Jorge Fernandez said he and Sam Aliassime will compare grades and exchange ideas as they watch their kids train and compete in Montreal.
“We used to share our experiences, our hopes, and our disappointments,” Fernandez said. “I think we’re both immigrants, we have a lot in common.”
But while Jorge Fernandez remained his daughter’s main coach, moving the family to Florida for training purposes, Sam Aliassime handed over the coaching role to others. Auger-Aliassime has trained since his youth with Tennis Canada, the sport’s national governing body. His coaches were Frédéric Niemeyer and former professionals like the Frenchman Guillaume Marx and Frédéric Fontang.
Fontang remains his primary coach, and in December Auger-Aliassime also began working with Rafael Nadal’s uncle and former trainer, Toni Nadal. Toni Nadal was a coaching advisor at Auger-Aliassime’s column and player box in New York.
“I think it’s helped me improve the consistency of my game, my movement quality, my focus,” said Auger-Aliassime, who will face second-seeded Daniil Medvedev on Friday. “On one side is my main coach, Frédéric, who has been with me since I was very young and knows every aspect of myself and my game. He has a long-term vision for me. You have Toni, number 1 in the world, going places we want to go one day, winning these big tournaments. I think it brings the belief that this is something that can be done.”
Canadian players are also showing each other what is possible. Eugenie Bouchard finished 5th at the Australian Open and French Open in 2014, reaching the semi-finals and the Wimbledon final. Born to an immigrant family in Montenegro, great service Milos Raonic beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon to rise to 3rd place in 2016 before losing to Andy Murray in the final.
“I think they’re all pushing each other, and I think that’s part of it,” said Bouchard’s former coach Sylvain Bruneau and Andreescu, director of professional women’s tennis at Tennis Canada. “I think Genie helped Bianca by doing what Bianca did and showing that you can be Canadian and be at a national tennis center and improve your game there and have some success. And I think Bianca did it for Leylah. And I know there is a feeling that anything can be accomplished. Fifteen years ago we wanted to be a tennis nation and get really serious about development. Huge resources have come into play and I think we’re seeing the benefits now.”
Tennis Canada has not been equally helpful to all players. Shapovalov and Fernandez have often worked independently, but Tennis Canada president Michael Downey said the federation provides some support to all four young stars in the form of financial or wild cards and educational opportunities.
“I think this all just reinforces that there is no single way to develop a great player,” Downey said in an interview on Wednesday. “As the Federation, we’re there as a facilitator, whether it’s hands-on development with Felix or helping out in other ways.”
The pandemic has been a challenge. The National Bank Open tennis tournament continues to be Tennis Canada’s main source of funding, and both the men’s and women’s events were canceled last year and ran a $8 million deficit, according to Downey.
“That’s a lot of money for a small federation,” Downey said. “We didn’t have the kind of reserves to lead us through that kind of loss.”
There were layoffs and major cuts to the player development program, and the federation took out a C$20 million loan. However, the National Bank Open was held this year with limited participation, and Downey said Tennis Canada will make a profit this year.
It will make the road to 2022 and 2023 easier for us,” he said. “But at the end of the day, part of the reason we are better financially is that we haven’t invested in tennis development. We only spend 40 percent of what we normally spend and we really want to get it back. “
Downey, like Canadian players, is well aware that this is a turning point for tennis in Canada and it is important not to waste it.
A sign of the times is that although this is the first year Canada has had two US Open singles semifinalists, this is the first time the traditional tennis giant the United States has not even been a singles quarterfinalist.
“Who could have imagined that?” said Bruneau.
David Waldstein and Ben Rothenberg contributing reporting
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