MADRID – Felix Auger-Aliassime declared that it is “crazy times for the elite of our sport” as the Canadian benefited from yet another retirement on May 3 to set up a Madrid Open final clash against Andrey Rublev.
Czech 30th seed Jiri Lehecka became the latest player to withdraw in the Spanish capital through injury, as he suffered a back problem and was forced to retire at 3-3 in the opening set of their semi-final clash.
Top seed Jannik Sinner withdrew ahead of his quarter-final with Auger-Aliassime, citing a hip injury, while Jakub Mensik also gave the Canadian free passage when he retired early in the second set of their third round.
Auger-Aliassime can thank his lucky stars but the concern is that the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid has been dealt one blow after another, starting with the pre-event withdrawal of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
After losing Sinner to injury, the competition also saw its third seed bow out as Daniil Medvedev retired midway through his quarter-final against Lehecka on May 2.
Carlos Alcaraz, meanwhile, announced he was withdrawing from next week’s Italian Open due to a forearm injury.
“It’s crazy. I don’t know if it’s ever happened before, it’s kind of a weird situation to be in on my part,” said a stunned Auger-Aliassime, who is through to the first Masters final of his career by playing just three completed matches.
Lehecka felt something in his back as he attempted a serve early in the match and took an off-court medical timeout that lasted eight minutes before play resumed at 3-3. It was all over three points later as he fell to the ground in pain, bringing the match to an abrupt end.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw that his back blocked on him. I feel really bad for him,” added Auger-Aliassime.
“It’s crazy times for the elite of our sport, withdrawing from many events.
“But, obviously for me, it’s kind of a weird rhythm not having played that much and being in the final. But I can just focus on the first week of tennis I had.”
Rublev reached the fifth Masters final of his career with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Taylor Fritz.
The seventh-seeded Russian arrived at the tournament carrying a four-match losing streak but rebounded in the Spanish capital, claiming five impressive wins, including one over world No. 3 Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
“For sure, mentally I was feeling much better (this week) and I was able to perform, putting emotions in the right direction, for sure that helped me to be in the final,” he said.
Rublev leads his head-to-head 4-1 against Auger-Aliassime but four of their five encounters have gone to a deciding set. The world No. 35 lost their most recent clash in Rotterdam in February after holding three match points.
“We’ve always had three-set battles, even back in 2018, when I was much younger,” said the 23-year-old Canadian.
“He’s always a player that fights hard, that’s always present every tournament, us players have highs and lows but he’s always there.” AFP
