Felix Auger-Aliassime had some things to get off his chest after winning his Round of 16 match at Wimbledon on Sunday.
Specifically, Auger-Aliassime was frustrated with a medical timeout his opponent, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, took at a pivotal moment in the fourth set.
The incident occurred with Auger-Aliassime up two sets to one and serving for the match at 5-4. Davidovich Fokina was leading the game 40-15 when he collapsed to the ground in pain and took a medical timeout for a leg injury.
Auger-Aliassime then double-faulted to drop the game and lost the set on a tiebreak. He won the fifth set 6-1 to advance.
As the two players met at the net to shake hands, Auger-Aliassime let Davidovich Fokina know he wasn't happy with how the medical timeout played out. The Canadian then further vented in his post-match press conference, saying the tour needs to change the rules to prevent players from taking medical timeouts when their opponent is serving.
"I think the rule has to change. I think that obviously as long as the rule is like that, player will use it to their advantage," Auger-Aliassime said. "If you're hurt bad, then you retire, obviously. But to stop in the middle of an opponent's service game and to be able to call the physio, I think that's a disgrace of a rule."
Auger-Aliassime will next face the legendary Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. They last played each other in 2022 and have split their head-to-head matchups 1-1.
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