It was 4 pm on Friday afternoon. Félix Auger-Aliassime stood by himself on a practice court at the Miami Open.

An hour earlier, the 18-year-old Canadian was battling John Isner on a 13,800-seat centre court for a spot in the final. Thirty minutes ago, he was lamenting missed opportunities at the post-match press conference after a frustrating 7-6(3) 7-6(4) loss to the six-foot-10 American.

Auger-Aliassime would have been forgiven if he’d decided to take a little break. He had just played his eighth match in the last 12 days, making it all the way to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event as a qualifier.

But there he was on court 17, tossing balls in the air, smacking serve after serve, shortly after fulfilling his media obligations.

The six-foot-three Canuck has been destined for greatness for a long time.

Born in Montreal to a Togolese father and Quebecois mother, Auger-Aliassime played a variety of sports growing up. But tennis was where he really thrived.

In 2015, he became the first 14-year-old to ever qualify for the main draw at an ATP Challenger event. In 2017, he reached the top-200 of the ATP rankings – the youngest player to accomplish this feat since Rafael Nadal in 2002.

Over the last year, he played his first five matches against top-20 opponents. He won all five without dropping a set. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, on the other hand, both lost four of their first five matches against top-20 opponents.