Felix Auger-Aliassime revealed that players are treating the Laver Cup with utmost seriousness in the wake of a heated on-court confrontation with Gael Monfils.
Auger-Aliassime won his singles match fair and square, 6-4, 6-3, driving Team World to a 3-0 lead in singles action before they extended that advantage further when Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul won their doubles match to complete a clean sweep on Friday.
But it was the tempestuous affair between Auger-Aliassime and Monfils that encapsulated proceedings on Day 1. The Canadian player protested to the umpire about Monfils' time-wasting antics between points, believing that ATP rules should apply.
Monfils overheard that part of the conversation and took offense to Auger-Aliassime's complaints. The Frenchman was candidly captured by TV cameras admitting that he was at the tournament 'to have fun' before crossing over to the other side of the bench where Auger-Aliassime and his Team World counterparts were stationed.
Monfils and Auger-Aliassime engaged in heated interaction in French, but soon after shook it off, and play eventually resumed in a more respectable climate. Speaking after the match, Auger-Aliassime opined that the Laver Cup is a tournament like any other on Tour and the spirit of competition should be honored.
Auger-Alissime believes the Laver Cup is a tournament that has the potential to be taken seriously whichever year it is played, hence why he was surprised that the umpire was not enforcing any rules for time-wasting between points. However, he added that the on-court incident is a thing of the past.
"I take all matches kind of seriously and just want to compete and win but having fun doing it. Happy that we're up and also happy that we're up in the doubles.
"Yeah, look, it's competition. Things got a little bit, yeah, heated in the moment, a bit of tension. I was just kind of talking to the referees, talking to him about what rules he was applying, I guess, between the rules we're used to in tournaments or different rules."
"Because I came in thinking, yeah, I have played this tournament and I think everybody involved, not just myself, we all believed that Laver Cup is a tournament that I think has the potential to be taken very seriously, not just now but also in the future, so we're taking this seriously."
"Yeah, I was just making sure of that. I don't know. Yeah, things got a bit heated for a couple of games, but I'm happy that we were able to finish the match. Gael is somebody I appreciate, so there is no, I think, tension outside of what just happened in the few games there."
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