Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the final of the Madrid Masters on Friday night after his opponent Jiri Lehecka broke it at 3-3 in the first set. The Canadian reached the last act in conditions where in 3 of the last 4 matches at the Caja Magica, his opponents abandoned before or after the start of the games.
The two were tied 3-3 in the first set when Lehecka claimed back problems. He gave up and retired after 33 minutes of play, at the score of 30-15, on his serve.
On Thursday night, the Czech had qualified in the aces box after his opponent in the quarters, Russian Daniil Medvedev, was the one who withdrew due to medical problems.
At the tournament in Madrid, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz also claimed medical problems, the first withdrawn from the competition, the second eliminated.
Auger-Aliassime will play the final against Russian Andrey Rublev on Sunday.
The Canadian, free way to the final
Felix Auger-Aliassime didn’t expect to play so little and make it this far in Madrid, but a strange series of events took him straight to the final with minimal effort.
Three of his last four opponents did not start or finish the game.
After the first two rounds, in which he outlasted Nishioka and Mannarino, the Canadian finished faster in the third round match, which ended with a score of 6-1, 1-0, at which point Jakub Mensik withdrew from the competition.
In the round of 16, Auger-Aliassime beat Casper Ruud in a minimum of sets, and since then he hasn’t won a single set until the final of the competition.
In quarters, Aliassime, no. 35 ATP, was supposed to duel with Jannik Sinner, but the Italian withdrew from the contest 24 hours before this match, due to medical problems with his hip.
In the semifinals, Auger-Aliassime had a match with Jiri Lehecka, but after only 6 games the match ended in favor of the Canadian, after the Czech withdrew due to back pain.
Auger-Aliassime therefore qualified for the final without winning a set since the Round of 16 match.
“It’s crazy. I don’t know if it’s ever happened to a player. It’s a weird situation to be in.”
“It has never happened to me in my career so far. Withdrawals like that, one after another. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw that his back was locked. I feel very sorry for him”.
“I also faced injuries. We can all imagine what it’s like to go out on a night like this hoping to win and go on. Fighting your opponent and not being able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri,” added the Canadian.
With Friday’s result, Felix Auger-Aliassime became the third Canadian to reach the final of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, after Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov, since the format was introduced in 1990.
Auger-Aliassime is the first to achieve this feat on clay.
Tags: strange case AugerAliassime Canadian ATP Madrid final winning set
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