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Not a whole lot has gone right for Felix Auger-Aliassime over the past couple of seasons, but the Mutua Madrid Open seems to be paying him back—and then some—for his recent struggles.
Auger-Aliassime finds himself in the final of this Masters 1000 tournament after getting a first-set retirement from Jiri Lehecka on Friday night. The second semifinal was tied at 3-3 in the opening set when Lehecka had to call it quits due to back spasms.
Shockingly, Auger-Aliassime has advanced six rounds in Madrid and only half of those six have featured completed matches. The Canadian also got a second-set retirement from Jakub Mensik in the third round and benefited from a Jannik Sinner walkover in the quarterfinals.
“It’s crazy,” Auger-Aliassime commented. “I don’t know if I’s every happened to a player before. It’s kind of a weird situation to be in on my part. It’s never happened to me in my career so far—a withdrawal or a walkover or retirement of this sort, and back-to-back like this. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw his back locked on him.
“I feel really bad for him. I’ve had injuries myself, and we can all imagine how it feels to come out on a night like this—hoping to win to go through, having a battle with your opponent, and not being able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri, and I can’t do anything but try to prepare for Sunday.”
The world No. 35, whose best result this fortnight is a 6-4, 7-5 fourth-round victory over Casper Ruud, will face Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final. Rublev beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in the semis.
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