Felix Auger-Aliassime laid bare his optimism for Canadian tennis after he and Victoria Mboko led Canada to a 3-0 win over China in Group B’s first round of Round Robin matches at the 2026 United Cup. Auger-Aliassime’s glowing assessment also included his and Mboko’s compatriots and WTA stars Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu.

On Sunday, January 4, the World No. 5 in men’s singles tennis registered a 6-4, 6-4 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen. The result came on the back of Mboko’s 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory against Zhu Lin. Later, the Canadian ATP and WTA duo combined to great effect in mixed doubles, as they dispatched You Xiaodi and Te Rigele 6-1, 6-3.

Following the impressive opening win for Canada at the 2026 United Cup, Felix Auger-Aliassime looked forward to partnering Victoria Mboko at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Yeah, I thought it was great that we could share the court. I was even thinking during the doubles about the next Olympics ahead, thinking like this could be good. If we’re both still playing good tennis and healthy, there’s a lot of things that can happen,” Auger-Aliassime said.

The eight-time career singles titlist went on to briefly reflect on Mboko’s breakthrough season in 2025, during which the 19-year-old won her maiden WTA Tour-level title at the Canadian Open, broke into the top 20 and was named WTA’s Newcomer of the Year. He also touched on Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu, two other high-profile Canadian WTA stars.

“I was really happy to see her breakthrough last year. It’s always good to have a strong male and female player on tour. You feel like you push each other to be good. There’s not only Vicki. Leylah is still there. Bianca is coming back A lot of good players on both men and women,” he added.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Victoria Mboko to face Belgian contingent next at United Cup 2026

Belgium awaits Canada next at the 2026 United Cup, with the two countries set to clash in the Round Robin phase on Tuesday, January 6 at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena.

As things stand based on the schedule, Felix Auger-Aliassime will take on Zizou Bergs in the tie’s first match, with Victoria Mboko and Elise Mertens’ encounter to follow. The respective pairings for the mixed doubles match are yet to be confirmed.

A win over the Belgians would almost certainly result in the Canadians reaching the quarterfinals of the United Cup for the very first time.