Felix Auger-Aliassime’s end of season form earned him a well-deserved place in the top five of the rankings for the first time.
Auger-Aliassime’s impressive climb up the ATP rankings came from an impressive US Open semi-final appearance, a Paris Masters final, as well as a victory at the European Open.
The Canadian confirmed himself as one of the real challengers for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at Grand Slams.
The star looks set for a very impressive 2026, and American tennis coach Brad Stine has shared his thoughts on what Auger-Aliassime can do next season.
Brad Stine discusseso a common misconception with Felix Auger-Aliassime
Stine, who currently coaches American Tommy Paul, has heaped praise on Auger-Aliassime for his work last season.
Speaking on The Slice, Stine said: “Even when he was playing at the low point for him, Felix has always been and always will be, an extremely dangerous player. He is just such an athlete. His athletic capability is off the charts.
“We talk about that with a lot of the guys. He is just a specimen. When you see the guy on TV and you watch him play, even if you are in the stands and you are a little further up, you don’t get the perspective of what a specimen he is.
“He is a big dude, with these squared off shoulders and he just looks intimidating as an athlete. He does not come across as intimidating a lot of the time, because he is such a nice guy.
“But his physical aura is impressive and you put that on the tennis court and the way he serves and the pace and depth and intensity that he hits the ball with on a regular basis in points, it’s tough to deal with.”
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Stine believes that his work with Toni Nadal has improved him as a player, and he expects him to kick on in 2026.
He added: “You add to that, and I think a little bit of this was maybe the Uncle Toni effect when he spent some time with him, but I think he has become a much more consistent player.
“He was always extremely dangerous but I would deem him as being brilliantly erratic, where for periods of time he could play at the highest level of the game you could ever imagine but then two seconds later he could miss eight balls in a row, which were the most basic simple balls.
“That kept a lot of people in matches with him and I think that’s what was happening a lot during the period where he was not playing the kind of tennis or best tennis that he could play.
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“Now I feel like he is still playing with that same level of aggression and offensive mindset but much more consistent in how he’s producing his game. I think he has also cut way back on double faults.
“He used to be a bit of a double fault machine but he is definitely doing a much better job of executing on second serves.”
Auger-Aliassime won three tournaments in 2025, and reached a further two finals, but there could be more to come from the Canadian next season.
How Felix Auger-Aliassime’s 2025 compares to previous seasons
Auger-Aliassime played 74 matches in 2025 and he notched up an impressive 50 victories across the season.
The Canadian has only won more matches once before in his career, when he reached 60 victories in 2022.
Nevertheless, Auger-Aliassime’s 50 victories in 2025 were enough to confirm his place in the top five of the rankings for the very first time.
Auger-Aliassime reached world number six in 2022, so he has already gone one better place in the ATP rankings.
The star ended his season with a win percentage of 68%, which is just one percent lower than his best-ever tally.
