Felix Auger-Aliassime has begun working with former player and coach Ivan Ljubicic as he aims to regain some momentum on the Tour.
The Canadian world No.5 has suffered early-round losses at both the US Open and China Open, where Karen Khachanov beat him both times. Since reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, Auger-Aliassime has won three out of six Tour-level matches played.
Shortly after Wimbledon, the 26-year-old decided to stop working with Frederic Fontang, his mentor for a decade. He hopes the highly experienced Croat can fill the gap. Ljubicic is known for his work with Roger Federer, who won three of his 20 Grand Slam titles under his guidance. The former world No. 3 has also worked with Milos Raonic.
“Excited to start a new chapter with Ivan. Let’s get to work,” Auger-Aliassime wrote on Instagram about the new partnership on Friday.
Despite his new role, Ljubicic will continue his work with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) as a special advisor. This was confirmed by the FFT, which commented on the Instagram post, ‘all the best for this new adventure – and looking forward to continuing ours.’
Auger-Aliassime is 36-16 so far this season, winning one title in Montpellier. He has a big chunk of points to defend over the rest of the season, especially at the Paris Masters, where he reached the final last year, and he is the defending champion of a 250 event in Brussels. He is also defending semi-final points from the ATP Finals but is currently 15th in the race.
Auger-Aliassime’s next event is the Shanghai Masters. He has played six Masters 1000 events so far this season, missing the Canadian Open due to a back injury. During this period, he reached the quarter-finals only at Monte Carlo.
