It is high praise when the most touted 20-year-old in men’s tennis – boasting wins over Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – offers to donate £10,000 to charity should he ever find a way to beat you.
Such was world No.6 Stefanos Tsitsipas’s sense of helplessness after falling victim to Felix Auger-Aliassime, the youngest man in the top 100, at Queen’s little more than a week ago.
On Monday, Vasek Pospisil could well have empathised with Tsitsipas’s sentiment after falling to the 18-year-old in the opening round at Wimbledon.
It was his second defeat from as many encounters with his compatriot, a player who had arrived as No.19 seed, having never won a Grand Slam match.
That first win was in the bag once Auger-Aliassime overcame a slow start to advance 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.
As the only player in the men’s draw born in the new millennium, it has been an extraordinary 12 months for the young Canadian.
A year ago, he was ranked outside the top 150 but after reaching his third tour final of the season in Stuttgart, he became the youngest semi-finalist at Queen’s in 20 years with victories over Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios and Tsitsipas in the space of 24 hours.
This was Pospisil’s first match since last October. But on the comeback from surgery for a herniated disc in his back, his lack of match play certainly was not apparent early on.
When Auger-Aliassime rolled down his sixth and seventh double faults to cough up a set point, the more experienced Canadian, 11 years senior, pounced. He rifled a superb backhand pass, catching the line to take the opener 7-5.
Pospisil has tasted success on these courts before. As a former world No.25, he was a quarter-finalist in 2015 and won the gentlemen’s doubles trophy with Jack Sock 12 months prior.
But his first set surprise only spurred his younger opponent, seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam, into action. Auger-Aliassime had won 10 of his past 13 matches – seven of those coming on grass – and immediately responded as he raced to a 4-0 lead.
The teenager carried the advantage to lock the contest up at a set apiece and when he closed out the third set with a love-hold for 6-4 Pospisil’s comeback was fast slipping away.
The 29-year-old called for the trainer to work on his right leg at the change of ends and could be overheard complaining of pain. When Auger-Aliassime broke a fading Pospisil for 4-3 he never looked back and broke again to close it out on a backhand volley winner. He will face former semi-finalist Dimitrov or qualifier Corentin Moutet in the second round.
As the youngest player to break into the top 100 since Rafael Nadal in 2002 and the youngest to crack the top 25 since Lleyton Hewitt in 1999, this teenager’s name is in good company. Not that he is prepared to be drawn into Grand Slam-winning comparisons just yet. A first match win is only the beginning.
"I think people have to relax," he said. "I mean, I'm 18. It's not like it's been a long time. I played main draw US Open, had to withdraw. Had to withdraw French Open, lost in qualies Aussie [Open]. For me it's not a long time.
“Obviously it's great, it's a relief just for any player to get his first Grand Slam win is a big relief, and it's a good achievement for me. At the same time with the level I'm playing now and my ambitions, I look forward and I look to go even further than that.”
On talk of being among the favourites to win The Championships he added: “I think that was a bit exaggerated, from my opinion. Sometimes I can understand the excitement...
“I think the first thing was just to get my first win. And then obviously I'm not saying I'm here to lose, but if I can go all the way, I'll go all the way. But it's a bit exaggerated to put me as maybe a fifth or sixth favourite to win the title.”
