Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
![Felix Auger-Aliassime Felix Auger-Aliassime, of Canada, embraces Jiri Lehecka, of the Czech Republic, after a semi-final match at the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Bernat Armangue, The Canadian Press)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/5/4/felix-auger-aliassime-1-6873624-1714834913014.jpg)
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.
Auger-Aliassime moved on to the final of the Madrid Open clay-court tournament Friday after semifinal opponent Jiri Lehecka of Czechia retired due to injury with their match tied 3-3 in the first set.
Lehecka left court for treatment from a physio with what appeared to be back pain. He tried to continue playing, but withdrew three points later.
"I feel really bad for him," Auger-Aliassime said. "I've had injuries myself, and we can 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."
Auger-Aliassime didn't even take the court in the quarterfinals when his opponent, top-seeded Jannik Sinner, withdrew from the tournament with a hip injury.
The 23-year-old Canadian also advanced by walkover in the third round when Jakub Mensik of Czechia retired from that match. Auger-Aliassime was leading 6-1, 1-0.
"It's crazy. I don't know if it's ever happened to a player before," said Auger-Aliassime. "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."
When Auger-Aliassime has played in Madrid, he has looked good. He posted a convincing 6-4, 7-5 win over fifth-seed Casper Ruud of Norway on the fourth round and easily handled 19th-seed Adrian Mannarino of France 6-0, 6-4 in the second round.
Auger-Aliassime will face seventh-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev in Sunday's final. Rublev advances with a 6-4, 6-3 win over American Taylor Fritz on Friday.
Rublev is 4-1 against Auger-Aliassime over his career, including a win on their only meeting on clay at the 2018 Croatian Open.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6970035.1721392588!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Widespread tech outage affects Canadian airports, hospitals and border crossings
A global technology outage grounded flights, disrupted hospitals and backed up border crossings in Canada on Friday, as issues persisted hours after problems with Microsoft services were said to be getting fixed.
LIVE UPDATES Here's the latest on Canadian impacts of the global IT outage
The latest developments on the Canadian impacts of the global technology outage that is causing massive disruptions to companies and services around the world.
New chief of the defence staff makes history, warns of 5-year timeline to counter Russia, China threats
Canada's newly appointed top soldier warns our country may not be ready to respond to 'conventional' and 'unconventional' threats from adversarial state actors, especially with the thawing of the North changing the landscape.
More than 250 wildfires in B.C. as hot and dry weather persists
More than 250 wildfires are burning in British Columbia as much of the province continues to bake under a heat wave that is expected to last into next week.
Recalled plant-based milk brands must rebuild trust by apologizing: marketers
Marketing experts say two brands that recently had to recall plant-based milk contaminated with Listeria can come back from the deadly outbreak, but they must move quickly to regain consumer trust.
Hundreds of firefighters gather for funeral of former chief killed in Trump rally shooting
A fire truck carried Corey Comperatore's flag-draped casket to a Pennsylvania church on Friday for the funeral of the former fire chief, who was shot and killed when a gunman tried to assassinate former U.S. president Donald Trump last weekend.
Spanish town to fine tourists for hogging beach spots
While tourists in Barcelona risk being squirted with water pistols, those in the town of Calpe on Spain’s Mediterranean coast face another threat: a hefty fine for reserving space on the beach for themselves.
How the CrowdStrike global IT outage affected a Canadian business
A global technology outage linked to a faulty software update has had a ripple effect on a Canadian business.
Trudeau taps MacKinnon to be new labour minister, ahead of cabinet meeting
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named Steven MacKinnon as Canada's new minister of labour and seniors, filling a fresh vacancy on his front bench, left by outgoing minister Seamus O'Regan.