Felix Auger-Aliassime has shared his outrage after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina took a medical timeout at an inopportune time during their Wimbledon clash.
The ATP rivals were involved in a heated exchange after the match, which Auger-Aliassime won 6-7(4-7), 7-6(8-6), 6-3, 6-7(2-7), 6-1.
But serving for the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, he was left really unhappy with the Spaniard, who took a medical timeout with two break points at 15-40.
After Davidovich Fokina’s pause, which he required following a slip on the Wimbledon grass, Auger-Aliassime immediately double-faulted.
His opponent proceeded to win the fourth set via a tiebreak, but the Canadian eventually prevailed after four hours and 26 minutes.
Despite claiming a very hard-fought win, the world number four has urged an immediate change to the ruling that impacted his latest match at SW19.
If you could change one rule in tennis what would it be and why?
Felix Auger-Aliassime calls out ‘disgrace of a rule’ after Wimbledon win
Discussing the heated interaction on Court 1, Auger-Aliassime said: “Well, the interactions between him and I, I don’t want to get into that. If he wants to come in here and talk about it, he can. But he knows my opinion.
“That’s one of these things that I have differences with people in my life on tour. They know what I think. That’s the most important.
“Now what I can say, though, is that I think the rule has to change. I think that obviously as long as the rule is like that, a player will use it to their advantage.
“I think that it’s very simple: if you’re hurt bad, or whatever you’re hurt, while the game’s going on of your opponent, in the middle of the game, the opponent is serving, the shot clock is on, basically when you’re hurt bad, you’re forfeiting every point until you can call the physio.
“If the physio helps you recover, you play your service game. If you’re hurt bad, then you retire, obviously.
“But to stop in the middle of an opponent’s service game and to be able to call the physio, I think that’s a disgrace of a rule.
“I don’t see any other sport where you can do that. I mark my words. It’s a disgrace of a rule. So that’s it.”
And when asked if he’s spoken to an official about it, he said: “I didn’t need to speak about it. The conversation is ongoing. But nobody’s taking decisions. You know what I mean?
“Like, yeah, it will come in the future. No. It’s simple: 2027 comes, you change the rule, end of the conversation. Enough discussing.”
Whether or not the rule change is made remains to be seen, but the Canadian must quickly compose himself for another huge Wimbledon battle.
Felix Auger-Aliassime praises Novak Djokovic ahead of their Wimbledon clash
For all of his hard work, Auger-Aliassime has now been rewarded with a formidable test against Novak Djokovic.
The Serbian is a seven-time Wimbledon champion, but the Canadian is relishing the test against an ATP rival he respects so much.
“Look, it’s simple, I need to play my best,” he said. “There’s no going through if I don’t play my best. The game plan is quite simple.
“Yeah, I hope that I can show that I’ve improved as a player. It’s a big opportunity. It’s a big honor for me to play this match.
“Playing here is, yeah, it’s one of those matches that you want to have and that you train for and prepare for.
“I can only say good things about Novak because, again, now that I’m a tennis player – I think as a kid I didn’t appreciate it as much – but now that I’m a player, the load of work he’s done over the years, I mean, I’m not even near any of that.
“Just to think about it, it’s crazy. You get dizzy just to think about it. Huge respect to him. I have to say, he’s been very generous with his time.
“I’ve reached out to him at times to ask him questions, pick his brain. I love to listen and to learn from older players, generations.
“He’s been very generous with his time, as well. Huge respect to that, not only as a player, but as a person.”
The pair have met twice in their ATP careers so far, both in 2022, and cannot be split with one win apiece.
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