A coaching change that ended a decade-long partnership on the ATP Tour has already found its next chapter, and it took barely over two weeks to happen. Frederic Fontang, having previously coached players like Vasek Pospisil and Carolina Garcia but most famously known for coaching Felix Auger-Aliassime to a career-high ranking of world No. 4. The pair had already agreed the partnership would end after Wimbledon, a decision made shortly after Roland Garros, and Fontang has now joined another top-15 player’s camp.

That new charge is Jiri Lehecka, who confirmed the hiring of Fontang, who coached the Canadian for nearly ten years, through an Instagram post shared from Los Cabos. Alongside a photo of the pair together on court, Lehecka kept the message short and enthusiastic.

“Arrived to Los Cabos with new challenges ahead. Welcome to the team Fred! Let’s go!”

Fontang began working with the Canadian back in 2017, when Auger-Aliassime was still a teenager, and guided him to a career-high ranking of world No. 4, nine ATP Tour titles, two Grand Slam semi-finals and two Masters 1000 finals. The partnership had been quietly headed toward its end since after Roland Garros, where a quarterfinal loss to Flavio Cobolli may have been the accelerator, according to Fontang.

“Beyond being an outstanding coach, he has been a true mentor throughout my journey into adulthood,” he wrote at the time.

Lehecka, ironically, ended his eight-year partnership with Michal Navratil on the same day he was eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon by Alexander Zverev. Navratil, a former ATP player and compatriot, had been a guiding force for the Czech since his junior days. After reaching world No. 12, Lehecka felt he needed a fresh start and was looking for a new voice in his corner.

The 24-year-old Czech has played his best season ever in 2026, reaching a career-high ranking in May after reaching the Miami Open final, where he was defeated by Jannik Sinner 6-4, 6-4. He has maintained his No.12 spot till now but will now be looking to break into the top 10 for the first time in his life 

A modest ATP 250 field gives the new partnership a low-pressure setting to build chemistry before the North American hard-court swing and its Masters 1000 fields begin. Auger-Aliassime, still searching for his own new voice, is handling that search on a completely different timeline.

Felix Auger-Aliassime takes a deliberate pause to rebuild his setup

While Jiri Lehecka wasted no time filling his coaching vacancy, Auger-Aliassime has taken the opposite approach, choosing patience over urgency. The Canadian has withdrawn from this week’s Citi Open in Washington, a decision reported to be a deliberate one aimed at giving him extra time to settle on a new coach before diving back into competition.

Instead of pushing for a new replacement in Washington, he is taking an additional week to settle into his new setup and prepare for his home Masters 1000, which begins on August 2 in Montreal. 

That patience is a gamble as Auger-Aliassime has plenty of points to defend over the next few months and will have to fill the void of the empty coaching slot as soon as possible. He will be defending his last year’s US Open semifinal run, Paris Masters final and the European Open title. He is even arriving to Montreal with a losing streak of more than 1443 days, last managing to get a win was back in 2022. Whether he arrives in Montreal with a new coach already confirmed or still searching remains to be seen.