Casper Ruud’s Monte-Carlo Masters campaign came to an abrupt end during his round-of-16 clash with Felix Auger-Aliassime after being forced to retire due to injury.
The Norwegian conceded the opener 7-5 and, at 2-2 in the second set, decided to call a halt to the contest as he was struggling physically.
Is the Monte Carlo Masters the best ATP 1000 tournament?
If not, which tournament do you consider to be better?
Auger-Aliassime will now take on Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals, against whom he is on a four-match losing streak.
After advancing past Ruud via a walkover, the Canadian took a moment to comment on his opponent’s retirement.
Felix Auger-Aliassime says Casper Ruud’s injury was ‘bad luck’
Asked what moment during the match he thought Ruud began to struggle with injury, Auger-Aliassime said: “It came out of the blue, and I asked him at the net, he said, yeah, it happened suddenly at the start of the second.
“You know, the level physically was quite high in the first set, a long first set, a lot of, you know, gruelling rallies, but, you know, I think he’s ready for this type of match. I think it’s just bad luck. So I feel for him.
“It’s a guy that I respect a lot. I respect everything he’s done on the court, also off the court, great sportsmanship, respectful person.
What star players think about the tennis schedule
“So, yeah, you feel for these guys when it happens, because you know what it feels like. It sucks. And, you know, it’s only the start of the clay season, so I hope he’s able to be back quickly.
“But if I just focus on the first set, I thought it was a good level of tennis.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime enjoys ‘best start’ to clay season
Auger-Aliassime has struggled in the past to record a strong start to the clay swing, having suffered several early exits at the Monte-Carlo Masters over the years.
- 2018 – First round
- 2019 – Second round
- 2020 – Not held
- 2021 – First round
- 2022 – Second round
- 2023 – Absent
- 2024 – Second round
- 2025 – First round
Reacting to making the quarterfinals, he said: “Yeah, I mean, it’s the best start of the clay season I’ve had since I’m on tour.
“So it took a few years to feel like I could step on the court, on the clay court and have the right intentions.
“But I feel like tactically I’m playing better fundamentals of clay court tennis than I have in the past, where in the past sometimes I would kind of just go off of instinct and maybe go off of how I’m feeling and try to replicate what I’m doing on hard courts, which is tough.
“So I think I’m a bit more patient, building my points a little bit better, and I’m feeling good physically. I worked really hard to get ready after Miami. So hopefully that pays off.”
Auger-Aliassime’s best result at a clay-court Masters tournament was a final appearance at the Madrid Open, where he was beaten by Andrey Rublev.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
