"It is a pleasure to collaborate with you" - Toni Nadal heaps praise on Felix Auger-Aliassime following Canada's maiden Davis Cup title win
Canada won the Davis Cup for the first time in their history by defeating Australia 2-0 in the finals in Spain, thanks to Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.
Canadian Shapovalov battled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening match, putting his nation ahead 1-0. In the second match, Felix Auger-Aliassime took to the court against Alex de Minaur of Australia in a tighter encounter, winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime's victory gave Canada a 2-0 lead and helped them win the Davis Cup in their second final appearance.
Toni Nadal, who has been working with Auger-Aliassime for over a year now, took to Instagram to heap praise on him. He congratulated the Canadian on his "amazing" year, which included a trip to the ATP Finals, and said that it had been a pleasure working with him and his team.
"Congratulations @felixaliassime for your contribution to the first Davis Cup for Canada. And congratulations for an amazing year that led you to the ATP Nitto Finals in Torino last week. It is a pleasure to collaborate with you and your team," Toni Nadal wrote.
"It was amazing, days like today you remember for a long time" - Felix Auger-Aliassime
When asked in the post match press-conference about how he felt when the team jumped on top of him after winning the title, Felix Auger-Aliassime stated that it was "amazing" and that he will remember the day "for a long time."
"Well, yeah. I saw the opening. I thought, This is it. I'm going for it. That's it. I saw the open court. I said, 'All right. Just hit it.' After seeing the ball in the air, I was like, 'No, this is going out.' My legs just dropped on me. I was just -- my leg just collapsed. To have Frank and everybody rush me, screaming, like, it was amazing. Yeah, it really is special, special moments," Auger-Aliassime said.
"You play many matches throughout the years, but days like today you remember for a long time. So it's going to be special," he added.
The World No. 6 was also asked what he thought he could improve as a tennis player, not just on the court but also off it. He stated that he wasn't thinking about improving, but rather about enjoying his victory.
"Right now, I'm not going to think about what I can improve, to be honest (smiling). I will leave that for next year. Right now I'm just -- however I played, honestly, if we win and I put the ball like this, it's okay. Underarm serve (smiling)," Auger-Aliassime said.