Felix Auger Aliassime is due to play his first-ever Masters 1000 singles final later today in the Madrid Open, but his road to that stage has been far from normal.
Three impressive wins over Adrian Mannarino, Jakub Mensik and Casper Ruud saw him stroll into the quarter-finals with relative ease, but that was when things started to take a strange turn.
Due to face Jannik Sinner, who had complained about an injury ahead of his win over Karen Khachanov, the Italian would defeat the Russian before later pulling out himself, gift-wrapping Auger Aliassime a place in the semis.
And then, clashing with Jiri Lehecka, who had dumped out Rafael Nadal before Daniil Medvedev retired against him, the Czech Republic star could not continue himself, and thus had to end their match early.
Unsurprisingly, the youngster has been left stunned.
Felix Auger Aliassime on Madrid Open injury problems
Speaking after Lehecka’s unfortunate retirement, Auger Aliassime gave his assessment on a ‘crazy’ tournament which has seen the sport’s top players seemingly drop like flies.
On top of those already mentioned, Novak Djokovic did not even play and Carlos Alcaraz was clearly hampered by an ongoing forearm injury. Roland Garros could be one of the most wide-open Grand Slams in recent memory.
The 2021 US Open semi-finalist would seek to offer his thoughts on one of the strangest weeks of tennis, which has gifted him a chance to claim the biggest title of his career thus far.
He noted: ‘It’s crazy. I don’t know if it’s ever happened to a player before. It’s a weird situation to be in. It’s never happened to me in my career so far.
‘A withdrawal or walkover or retirement of this sort. Back to back like this. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw his back failed him and blocked on him. I feel really bad for him. I’ve felt with injuries myself.
‘We can all imagine what it feels like to come out on a night like this hoping to win and go through. Having to battle with your opponent and not being able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri. For me, I can’t do anything but try to prepare for Sunday.’
A huge opportunity for both Felix Auger Aliassime and Andrey Rublev
Whilst Andrey Rublev will be seeking to secure his second title of the season, this marks a first final for the Canadian since his October triumph in Basel last year.
Naturally, the Russian boasts far more experience competing for titles, with the disparity between their respective world rankings indicative of this, but neither are particularly well-versed in Masters 1000s.
After all, despite the 26-year-old having won in Monte-Carlo last year, that was his sole appearance at that stage in that level of tournament.
And as for his Grand Slam record, his quarter-final struggles have been well-documented for some time now.
Meanwhile, Auger Aliassime is set to star in his first-ever Masters 1000 final later today.
As a couple of big servers with powerful forehands, it will be all about who can dictate when on serve to take the initiative in this showpiece final.
After all, should the 23-year-old win, in a few year’s time nobody will remember how he got to the final. Just that he was there, and that he claimed silverware against all the odds.
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