UNITED CUP

January 4, 2026

Felix Auger-Aliassime

Victoria Mboko

Team Canada

Press Conference

Team Canada - 3

Team China - 0

THE MODERATOR: Felix, great performance by Team Canada today. Talk us through your thoughts on the tie.

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Really happy because it's the first match of the year for both of us, first time playing mixed doubles. There's a lot of firsts. With that comes a lot of uncertainty also, right?

Obviously, she had a very strong year. I had a strong year. There's a bit of a break. You don't know how you're going to feel when you step on the court. You're hoping for the best.

Today I think in many moments it was close to our best. Happy with a 3-0 win, for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did you feel on court and how did you get yourself back in the match?

VICTORIA MBOKO: To the start of the match, I felt a little bit off in a way, getting used to the court, getting used to the balls. I'm glad that I kind of found my way in the match, found some sort of momentum to kind of change the match around. Once I kind of got my groove, did what I was usually used to, then I found that I was a bit more myself in a way.

At the end of the day I felt more comfortable, especially towards the end of the match, just playing my game throughout. That was a pretty good feeling.

Q. You said on the court this was your first time playing mixed doubles. How different did you find it playing mixed as opposed to women's doubles? How do you feel the two of you combined?

VICTORIA MBOKO: Well, I mean, the one thing I noticed is you're playing with a guy on the other side, or having Felix serve, the points are a lot shorter. I mean, it's just a lot more quicker rallies. You kind of have to have fast hands. You don't really see the ball as much as women's tennis.

Yeah, it was a pretty cool experience. To start the year off playing this kind of format that I'm not used to, it's really stepping me out of my boundaries. I like it. I had a lot of fun today.

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: 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.

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.

Q. With this format, you have a coach who is there. Basically you could talk to him after every point if you wanted to. Did you know he was so chatty?

VICTORIA MBOKO: Well, I mean, to be honest with you, it was kind of loud in the stadium. For me to actually hear, I kind of had to go close to the box.

I think just because in a normal tournament it's not like you're able just to talk with the coach all the time, so I felt like I didn't find myself going to converse between points a lot. It was more kind of just at games and stuff. I didn't really notice much.

But it's nice to have this kind of format where you have a coach who's able to give you feedback after every point. That's something that's not common. Yeah, that was also nice to have.

Q. But he talked a lot. Did you notice?

VICTORIA MBOKO: No.

Q. He had a lot to say.

VICTORIA MBOKO: No, I mean, yeah. If he's helping me throughout the match, then I like it. It's not easy, especially your first match in the year after kind of having a break. It's nice that he was able to kind of talk me through the match. Whatever I was able to pick up, I tried to use it to the best of my abilities. I really liked him being there.

Q. Felix, you're not usually someone that gets bothered by heat and humidity. Was it affecting you?

FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME: Yeah, I mean, it didn't get to the extent of affecting me. I think if I played five sets, yes.

I think it's good that I'm here because I haven't played in this humidity in a while. Finished the season indoors. Probably the last time was the semifinals in US Open where it was like that humid, I had some cramps. It was similar humidity, storm outside, this roof, packed.

Honestly, it was tough. I felt it a little bit in my legs in the second. Obviously being ahead in the match and being able to close it out with my serve, I didn't have to dig that deep.

Yes, humidity was strong.