MONTREAL — Felix Auger-Aliassime’s run at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers ended before it even had a chance to get started.
Ranked fourth in the world, seeded second in a field already absent of Tennis’ top two players, the stars were aligned for him to become the first Canadian male champion of this Masters 1000 event in the ATP’s Open Era. But they fell out of sync as soon as the Montrealer announced on Wednesday that an injury would prevent him from playing.
“I felt sudden and sharp pain in my back during practice Monday afternoon, though everything was going well in our preparation up until that point,” Auger-Aliassime told media members at IGA Stadium just before 5 p.m. “After that, thanks to the tournament, I had an extra day to prepare myself and was ready to play Tuesday night if need be. Everybody did their best to give me the best chance to compete. My team and the doctors put everything in place, so I have to thank everyone for allowing me to feel the best possible.
“But when I came here to warm up at 3 p.m. (on Wednesday), I got on the court and couldn’t serve. So, it was impossible for me to play at the level the competition demands. Therefore, the decision wasn’t complicated to make, but it’s very difficult to accept.”
Understandably.
This was supposed to be Auger-Aliassime’s first match since his epic five-setter versus Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. With a favourable draw, there was hope it would propel him to his best-ever result in front of his home crowd—an appearance in the semifinal—and that he would use that as a springboard into the hard-court season.
But after receiving a bye in the first round of the NBO, Auger-Aliassime’s momentum was suddenly halted. And it was arrested completely as soon as he made the decision that he had to pull out of his primetime second-round match against France's Titouan Droguet.
In doing so, Auger-Aliassime became the third Canadian player to withdraw due to injury in the last 24 hours. He was the last Canadian standing after Richmond Hill, Ont.’s Denis Shapovalov (ankle) and Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo (back) both retired during matches on Tuesday, and then he took his seat to tell the media he couldn’t participate.
“The season will continue, but the word that comes back to me is ‘unfortunate,’ because I had good conditions here in Montreal,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I was ready to play in front of the people of Quebec. It’s sad, it’s unfortunate, but life continues, the season continues, and I’m wishing the best for the tournament and for it to be a successful tournament either way.”
It was shaping up to be a flawed one before the first ball was even served.
World No. 1 and reigning Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner announced on July 24 that he’d be skipping the NBO to prioritize his health following a gruelling two weeks at the All-England Club. World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who missed Wimbledon with a wrist injury, was incapable of returning in Montreal. And Djokovic, who’s the all-time male leader in Grand Slams (24), withdrew as well.
Then qualifying and first-round matches for the players who did show up were delayed by heavy downpours. And once the rain stopped falling, Canadian players started dropping.
The one with the greatest chance of winning this week was Auger-Aliassime, whose quarterfinal appearances at both the French Open and Wimbledon had vaulted him to the highest ranking held by a Canadian male since Milos Raonic in 2016.
But instead of preparing for a match in Montreal, the player is now preparing for a more extensive medical evaluation.
“Now that the decision’s been taken and my tournament’s over,” said Auger-Aliassime, “I’ll do some tests tomorrow to find out how this injury is evolving and how we can respond afterwards.”
There’s hope he’ll recover on time to play in Cincinnati next week, but he’s devastated he can’t play here this week.
NBO tournament director Valerie Tetreault sympathizes.
“We’re sharing that disappointment with Felix and the fans,” said Tetreault after Auger-Aliassime spoke. “No one is winning in that scenario.”
“I think it’s the worst news, the worst result possible,” Tetreault added. “It’s a particularly tough year considering what happened (Tuesday). We experienced something exceptional last year with Vicky Mboko and now it feels like the complete opposite with what’s happened this year.”
What’s happened this year guarantees it’ll be a 68th straight Canadian Open won by a man from a nation other than Canada.
It won’t be Alexander Zverev, however. The top seed and Wimbledon finalist, who ranks third in the world, lost to France’s Tallon Griekspoor earlier on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ben Shelton, who won the NBO in Toronto last year, advanced to the Round of 32 with a straight-sets win over fellow American Jensen Brooksby.
Wednesday’s centre-court action will continue with a match between Daniil Medvedev and Botic Van de Zandschulp before wrapping with one between Gael Monfils and Lerner Tien.
The disappointment that Auger-Aliassime won’t be featured will linger.
“He only gets a chance to play in Montreal every two years, and he was the first player to arrive here,” said Tetreault. “Obviously, he really wanted to win here, and the opportunity was there with no (Jannik) Sinner, no (Carlos) Alcaraz. The goal was to come grab his first Masters 1000 title of Montreal, but life decided otherwise.”
