Felix Auger-Aliassime says Toni Nadal's presence in coaching team is a "huge source of motivation, confidence and trust" 

During a recent appearance on the Match Point Canada podcast, Felix Auger-Aliassime spoke about a host of topics, including his relationship with new coach Toni Nadal and his rivals on the ATP tour.

Auger-Aliassime roped in Toni Nadal, the former coach and uncle of Rafael Nadal, in April this year. Under the Spaniard's guidance, Auger-Aliassime reached his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon. He went one better at the US Open, where he advanced to the semifinals. During the season, the Canadian also recorded impressive wins over Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev.

Auger-Aliassime stated that the addition of Toni Nadal to his coaching team has worked wonders so far.

"Yeah, it was good I mean. Through conversations, through work on court, I think I've been able to just learn and just kind of take a lot of information from Toni and then cross it and see what I can take from that, learn from that. So just him being there, being present is a huge source of motivation and more than anything, a source of confidence and trust," he said.

Auger-Aliassime revealed that Toni Nadal has brought in a lot of positive energy to the team, while also admitting that he has become more confident in his abilities under the Spaniard's watchful eye.

"I think to summarize what Toni has brought this year, then he's brought a lot of confidence in the team, that we're on the right track, he's brought confidence that making the semifinals of Grand Slams are challenging but it's something that's doable, something of a normality than something that's extraordinary. He's just brought a lot of confidence to myself and my team," the Canadian said.

Felix Auger-Aliassime considers Denis Shapovalov as one of his biggest rivals

Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2021 Australian Open.

Felix Auger-Aliassime has developed some exciting rivalries with Next Gen players, but the Canadian considers compatriot Denis Shapovalov one of his biggest competitors.

"With Denis we have this good healthy rivalry, we've known each other for a long time but I just feel like there's this tension when we play each other, we want to show our best, we want to play our best tennis and there are high quality matches every time we play," he said.

But he was quick to point out that he had also had close battles with the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.

"But it's also Zverev, Tsitsipas, guys like this who, in Zverev's case he beat me the first few times quite easily and then I was able to win and then he won the last match we played in three tight sets, so I think Zverev and the likes of Tsitsipas as well, I'm starting to have rivalries with these guys," Auger-Aliassime said.

The 21-year-old will next be seen in action at the 2022 ATP Cup, where he'll represent Canada along with rival and close friend Shapovalov.