"You hope that you're leading by example, that kids, in you, they see belief, that you can reach that whatever city, country, neighbourhood you come from"
Sunday 6 September 2020 15:42, UK
Felix Auger-Aliassime says he is pleased to see players from different ethnicities and backgrounds reach the latter stages of Grand Slams.
Auger-Aliassime, whose father Sam Aliassime is from Togo and his mother Marie Auger from Quebec, admits feeling sense a responsibility to be a role model for the small but growing numbers of players from different ethnicities in the game.
The Canadian youngster, who impressed during his rout of Britain's Andy Murray earlier at the US Open, advanced to the fourth round for the first time on Saturday with an impressive display against France's Corentin Moute.
Auger-Aliassime said he was lucky to grow up in a "melting pot" of cultures in Quebec and one of the benefits of the global tennis tours was that they could reach into every continent, but he believes even more can be done to encourage diversity in the game.
I just love to see people from everywhere. It's just a great message to send, to be open to diversity.
"Seeing players from different ethnicities, different backgrounds reaching latter stages of tournaments like these, I think it's a really good example for people watching us," Auger-Aliassime told reporters.
"I was thinking today that you want to send out a good message. You hope that you're leading by example, that kids, in you, they see belief, that you can reach that whatever city, country, neighbourhood you come from.
"I hope this gives a lot of belief to people, and it's a good message of love. Yeah, I'm happy to see a lot of my peers and players I guess looking like me in the further rounds."
Auger-Aliassime added: "I just love to see people from everywhere. It's just a great message to send, to be open to diversity. Hopefully that will keep going. Hopefully we'll get even more players from Africa even.
"I know that's something that people have tried to do, bring more players from the African continent to professional tennis. Hopefully that happens in the future."
Frances Tiafoe, whose parents were immigrants from Sierra Leone, echoed Auger-Aliassime's sentiments.
The 22-year-old American said wanted to serve as a mentor for the younger black players coming through the ranks.
"I'm not going to let these guys fail," said world No 82 Tiafoe. "Whether it's tennis or whatever, I just want to see people of colour in my communities win."
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