Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to Flavio Cobolli, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 4-6, in the French Open quarter-finals.
The Canadian let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a Grand Slam slip through his fingers, falling to Cobolli in four sets.
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After the match, a devastated Auger-Aliassime delivered his assessment on the current state of his tennis career.
Felix Auger-Aliassime says he isn’t the player he wants to be following heartbreaking Roland Garros exit
During his post-match press conference, Auger-Aliassime was asked for his thoughts on the tournament and his season so far.
“In a bigger perspective, I can’t complain with my life,” he said.
“But I’m in a place right now, with my tennis career, that is tough.
“I’m destroyed today a little bit.
“It’s tough. I usually handle losses pretty well, I have to say, my whole career, going back to training with optimism and positivity, but now I feel like I’m not the player I want to be, so today is a difficult day.”
Auger-Aliassime was about as downbeat as we’ve ever seen him, reflecting on one of the toughest defeats of his professional career.
The 25-year-old will reach a career-high of fourth in the world on Monday, but that merely papers over the cracks of what is going wrong for him.
Live ATP Rankings
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 1 | Jannik Sinner | Italy | 13,500 |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | Spain | 9,960 |
| 3 | Alexander Zverev | Germany | 6,105 |
| 4 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 4,440 |
| 5 | Ben Shelton | USA | 3,920 |
| 6 | Alex de Minaur | Australia | 3,905 |
| 7 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 3,760 |
| 8 | Daniil Medvedev | Russia | 3,760 |
| 9 | Taylor Fritz | USA | 3,720 |
| 10 | Flavio Cobolli | Italy | 3,040 |
Auger-Aliassime was on fire at the end of last year, reaching the semis in New York, before excelling on indoor hard courts as he so often does.
Heading into the 2026 season, some even argued that Auger-Aliassime could be the man to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Unfortunately for the Canadian, that hasn’t happened.
And while he sits fourth in the ‘Live Rankings’, the ‘Live ATP Race to Turin’ tells the true story about his 2026 season.
Auger-Aliassime is ninth in the race, outside the ATP Finals qualification spots.
He’s had a better start to the year than he did in 2025, but his results have been inconsistent to say the least.
After losing in the first round of the Australian Open, Auger-Aliassime bounced back by winning the Open Occitanie ATP 250 event before reaching the final in Rotterdam and the semi-finals in Dubai.
But he hasn’t played a semi-final since.
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s record since Dubai (11-7)
- Indian Wells – Lost in 4R to Arthur Fils
- Miami Open – Lost in 3R to Terence Atmane
- Monte Carlo Masters – Lost in QF to Jannik Sinner
- Madrid Open – Lost in 3R to Alexander Blockx
- Italian Open – Lost in 2R to Mariano Navone
- Hamburg Open – Lost in 2R to Aleksandar Kovacevic
- French Open – Lost in QF to Flavio Cobolli
In the bigger picture, Auger-Aliassime knows that this was a rare chance for him to challenge for a Grand Slam title.
It’s not often that you arrive in the second week of a Slam in a locker room that shows no signs of Alcaraz, Sinner, or Novak Djokovic.
Unable to capitalise, Auger-Aliassime’s wait for a first Grand Slam title goes on, and judging by the tone of his press conference, perhaps he has started to lose hope that he will ever get his hands on one of the sport’s four biggest trophies…
Felix Auger-Aliassime targets improvement after Flavio Cobolli defeat
“He’s the better player, credit to him, and I have to improve, that’s it,” said Auger-Aliassime.
The soon-to-be world number four was quick to credit Cobolli, but recognised he missed chances against the Italian.
“The second set is ok, had a dip, I was playing the right way, but I had a small moment, a loss of concentration in the second set, where I was playing very attacking tennis, but I was just not precise,” he said.
“Then in the third set, I thought I was the better player. I made some good adjustments. I think the forehand miss at 0-40 is huge, looking back, because I was in a really good place. I had the point on my racket, I missed the forehand, which is my strength, that was big.
“That game, I have to give him credit, 4-3, had some tough rallies, I didn’t have a look, he just did better than me, so credit to him, good serving also.”
Auger-Aliassime was then asked about the conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier.
He won the first set in the wind, before the momentum shifted when the roof closed.
“Obviously, the first set is not really tennis; you’re just trying to manage to put the ball in the court,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“It’s indoor [when the roof is closed], but quite slow, heavy, so my serve didn’t have an impact, my forehand didn’t have an impact, and he found better solutions than me, so that’s what happened.”
Auger-Aliassime now needs to put this defeat behind him and turn his attention to the grass-court season.
Cobolli, on the other hand, will prepare to play either Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi in the semi-finals on Friday, June 5.
