Félix Auger-Aliassime Reaches First Masters 1000 Final after Unusual Circumstances

Félix Auger-Aliassime will play the most important final of his career on Sunday in Madrid, his first in a Masters 1000 category tournament. A final that he reached in circumstances that he himself describes as “crazy”, but which remains a huge first for Quebecers.

For a second time in a row, Friday, “FAA” saw its opponent abandon, injured. After the favorite Jannik Sinner, who skipped their quarter-final meeting, the Czech Jiri Lehecka this time gave up when the score was 3-3, in the first round of the semi-final.

The 30th seed grimaced and touched his back after trying to return a serve from Félix during the seventh game of the first set. Lehecka then called in the physiotherapist and retreated to the locker room to undergo treatment.

Photo AFP

Then, on his return to the field, the 22-year-old played three more points, before going to the net to regretfully signal to “FAA” that the victory was his.

“This has never happened to me in the past [d’avoir deux forfaits de suite de mes adversaires]», Pointed out a Félix who seemed a little troubled by the events of the last three days, in an interview on the ground.

“When I saw that his back had failed him, that he had stuck, I couldn’t believe it,” continued the 35th player in the world. I felt bad for him, I’ve had my fair share of injuries myself [la saison dernière].»

Photo AFP

To add to this unusual succession of withdrawals, Daniil Medvedev, third seed in the Spanish capital, had also thrown in the towel the day before against Lehecka. A package that looked like a stroke of luck for Auger-Aliassime, who has never beaten the Russian in seven matches.

And in the third round, the young Jakub Mensik, another Czech, had given up after Félix had won the initial set, 6-1.

A first in three attempts

Félix undoubtedly dreamed of being able to celebrate his first qualification for a final of this magnitude on the court in a different way. To do it with a big smile on his face, his arms raised towards the sky.

The Masters 1000 category, which also includes the National Bank of Montreal Open, is the second most important on the ATP circuit, after the four Grand Slam events.

Photo AFP

In Madrid, on this clay court which is not his favorite surface, Auger-Aliassime played at the age of 23 a third semi-final in a tournament of this importance, and his first since the Paris Masters, in the fall 2022. He reached his first semi-final in the Masters 1000 in Miami five years ago.

But “FAA” instead showed great class in its celebrations, hugging Lehecka for a moment at the net, before wishing him a speedy recovery in the traditional message that winners write on the camera lens.

Heartbreaking 💔

Jiri Lehecka is forced to retire with an injury at 3-3 in the first set, sending Felix Auger-Aliassime into his first Masters 1000 final.#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/N3tihT0Wj8

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 3, 2024

Hard to say what the outcome of this meeting would have been had it not been for the abandonment of the Czech, against whom the Quebecer lost in the round of 16 at the Australian Open last year.

Certainly, it was not the kind of match that clay-court purists love: with their heavy and powerful strikes, the two players had until then limited the exchanges to a few racquet strokes. Félix, however, was the only one to offer himself a break point.

The final against Rublev

Auger-Aliassime’s two impressive weeks in Madrid will therefore reach their climax on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Quebec time, when he will be looking for the sixth title of his career, facing Russian Andrey Rublev, who triumphed in the semi-finals from the American Taylor Fritz (12th), 6-4 and 6-3.

Impressive, yes, because before this series of abandonments, Félix had notably beaten the Norwegian Casper Ruud, sixth in the world and generally exceptional on clay, in the round of 16. Never in the past had the Quebecer won on ocher such a highly ranked player.

Photo AFP

This will be his first final of the season and a possible first title since the one he defended in Basel last October.

Against Rublev, “FAA” shows a record of only one victory against four losses. But their five clashes were hotly contested: the only one which did not go to the final round ended in two tiebreakers.

Photo Oscar Gonzalez/WENN

And Félix had a match point against the eighth in the world in Rotterdam, at the start of the year, before losing.

“It’s strange to find myself in the final after having played so little, but all I can do is think about my first week of tennis here,” noted Auger-Aliassime. I played well from the start […] and I gave myself the chance to find myself in the quarter-finals. Then there were these strange circumstances, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

2024-05-03 18:45:36
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