Canadian tennis star Auger-Aliassime derives on-court success, personal growth from Togolese roots

Next week, Montreal tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime is set to compete in his eighth straight singles main draw at the 2025 U.S. Open Tennis Championships.

But despite a lengthy list of accolades, including an Olympic bronze medal and seven singles titles on the ATP Tour, it's his community outreach in his father's home country of Togo that the tennis star wants the attention focused on.

In the late 1990s, the 25-year-old Felix's father, Sam Aliassime, immigrated from the West African nation when he was around the same age as his son is right now.

"You're there [in Togo and] even if you have a dream and you want it, you're stuck by the circumstances of your environment," he told CBC Sports. "And he comes to Canada, steps foot, and everything is possible here, if I work hard and I really stick to my goal."

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Those values were poured into Auger-Aliassime at a young age, influencing his drive to compete at the highest level of tennis.

"He gave me all the right tools, to achieve that: hard work discipline, curiosity, work ethic," he said.

Following Auger-Aliassime's breakout year in 2019, he and his father sat down to plan how to give back to the community through his earned success, asking themselves: "Is there a way I can link my tennis career to something that is outside of the tennis but that also resonates with me?"

Serving the youth of Togo quickly came to mind.

In 2020, their money-matching program called #FAAPointsForChange was born, where Auger-Aliassime donates $5 for every point he wins in a match toward supporting education and child protection in