Felix Auger-Aliassime has endured a hugely frustrating start to his season after withdrawing from the Australian Open.
ATP number eight Auger-Aliassime retired hurt against Nuno Borges in his very first match of the hard-court tournament in Melbourne.
Borges was leading 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the time of the retirement, much to the disappointment of the Canadian and those inside John Cain Arena.
Shortly before the Australian Open, Auger-Aliassime capped off a fantastic 2025 season by reaching the semifinals of the ATP Finals.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime upbeat despite Australian Open withdrawal
Three titles in 2025 had also helped fire him to fifth in the world rankings, a career-high for the 25-year-old, who played at the United Cup before the Grand Slam.
Canadian ace Auger-Aliassime has now issued an update following his brief stay in Melbourne with a message on his Instagram.
He wrote: “Safe to say Australia didn’t pan out the way I planned or hoped for this year but minus the small setback, I’m still feeling great about my game and what I want to bring to the table for the rest of this season.”
After his defiant message, he added: “I look forward to coming back and rewriting my story here next year.”
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Felix Auger-Aliassime among many Australian Open retirements
It remains to be seen when Auger-Aliassime can return to action, but it is admirable that he is still positive despite the huge disappointment.
He certainly isn’t the only player to have been forced out of the tournament against their will, with his fellow Canadian Marina Stakusic suffering the same fate.
Francesca Jones also exited early in that regard, along with Raphael Collignon, while Hugo Gaston couldn’t complete his match with Jannik Sinner.
And it was also an issue before the tournament, with Matteo Berrettini withdrawing from the Australian Open, along with WTA stars Qinwen Zheng and Marketa Vondrousova.
Roger Federer once labelled the tournament ‘the happy Slam’, but that clearly hasn’t been the case for Auger-Aliassime and many others in Melbourne this year.
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