World number four Felix Auger-Aliassime will be playing for local pride when the ATP Montreal Masters begins on Sunday in his hometown.
The Canadian returns as second seed to a tournament he attended frequently as a budding young player, when he used to watch and study his sporting idols up close in training between matches.
"There were several times when I didn't have a ticket, so I would watch all the training sessions," he said on Saturday at the event, where he is seeded behind Roland Garros winner and Wimbledon runner-up Alexander Zverev.
"I learned even more things during training since they (fans) have the chance to be very, very close to the players."
Auger-Aliassime recently split with his longtime coach of 10 years, Frederic Fontang, after losing a frustrating Wimbledon five-set quarter-final to Novak Djokovic.
He will have the bulk of the crowd support at an event which is missing major stars including top-ranked Jannik Sinner, who opted not to play in the wake of his Wimbledon triumph to send tournament organizers into crisis mode.
Joining the Italian on the sidelines with less than a month to go before the US Open begins are the 39-year-old Djokovic and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, still testing and healing the right wrist injury which has kept him off court since mid-April.
Auger-Aliassime's best performance at the Canadian event was a quarter-final four years ago. Last year he lost in the second round.
Despite the hometown support, Auger-Aliassime said he will aim to stick to his usual routines and focus solely on his game.
"Already, my expectations or hopes are at the same level as the public's. So already, there is no gap at that level," he said.
"I have my work to do, I have my preparation, I have my routines, so all that doesn't change.
"I try to change as few things as possible, even if I'm playing in Montreal. Yes, I'm a bit more in-demand obviously than at other tournaments, but I try to keep my routines.
"The brain is used to having its routines. And that helps to program oneself well or to prepare well for the tournament."
All 28 seeds in the 128-strong field receive first-round byes, with Auger-Aliassime set for the second round against the winner from France's Luca van Assche and a qualifier.
Top seed Zverev reached the Canadian semi-final in Toronto a year ago.
Australian Alex de Minaur takes the third seeding ahead of Daniil Mdevedev while defending champion Ben Shelton is seeded fifth.
str/amz/bb
