Achi news desk-
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Eliasima reached his first ATP Masters final, and he didn’t have to play that much tennis to do it.
Auger-Eliasima advanced to the final of the Madrid Open clay court tournament on Friday after semi-final opponent Jiri Lehke of the Czech Republic withdrew due to injury with their match tied 3-3 in the first set.
Laka left the court to be treated by a physio with what appeared to be back pain. He tried to continue playing, but pulled three points later.
“I feel really bad for him,” Auger-Eliasima said. “I’ve had injuries myself, and we can imagine how it feels to go out on a night like this, hoping to win to go through, to have a battle with your opponent, and not be able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri, and I can’t do anything but try to prepare for the day First”.
Auger-Eliasima didn’t even step on the court in the quarterfinals when his opponent, Janic Siner, withdrew from the tournament with a hip injury.
The 23-year-old Canadian also advanced with a walk in the third round when Jakub Mencic of the Czech Republic retired from that match. Auger-Eliasima led 6-1, 1-0.
“It’s crazy. I don’t know if that’s ever happened to a player before,” Auger-Eliasima said. “It’s kind of a strange situation to be in on my part. It’s never happened to me in my career so far, a withdrawal or deviation or retirement of this kind, and back to back like this.”
When Auger-Eliasima played in Madrid, he looked good. He recorded a convincing 6-4, 7-5 win over fifth seed Kasper Roed of Norway in the fourth round and easily handled 19th seed Adrien Manrino of France 6-0, 6-4 in the second round.
Auger-Eliasima will meet seventh-seeded Russian Andrei 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 Oger-Eliasima in his career, including a victory in their only meeting on clay at the 2018 Croatian Open.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 3, 2024.
