Félix Auger-Aliassime qualified for the final in Madrid after Jiri Lehecka retired on Friday.
The two players were tied 3 games throughout in the first set when Lehecka threw in the towel after around thirty minutes of the match, at 30-15 on his serve, after finishing the last point on his knees and grimacing. At the previous change of ends, visibly embarrassed for a few points, he left the court to be treated, apparently on his lower back.
“Sorry for you, Jiri, you will come back,” “FAA” addressed Lehecka through the stadium camera.
Auger-Aliassime found himself in the Masters 1000 final for the first time in his career, at the age of 23, after a rare combination of circumstances: before Lehecka’s abandonment, he had benefited from the withdrawal of world No. 2 Jannik Sinner , painful right hip, on the eve of their scheduled quarter-final.
He had previously beaten Casper Ruud, who had just participated in two finals in a row on clay.
“A withdrawal and abandonment in quick succession, that had never happened to me in my career, it’s a bizarre situation,” commented the young Quebecer.
In an end to the tournament that looked like a massacre, Lehecka himself had benefited the day before from the abandonment of his previous opponent, world No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, also injured in the right hip, after a set.
Rublev as opponent
World No. 8 Andrey Rublev, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, qualified for his first final at the Masters 1000 in Madrid by dominating American Taylor Fritz (13th) 6-4, 6-3 in 71 minutes.
Rublev, the highest ranked player in the last four, reached the fifth Masters 1000 final of his career, at age 26. He has only won one so far, in Monte-Carlo in 2023 (against Rune).
Broken from the start of the match by Fritz, the Russian immediately responded and equalized at 1 all. A break at 5 games to 4 in the first set, then another to escape 4 games to 2 in the second set were then enough for him to win.
His journey to the Madrid final already ensures that he climbs to seventh place in the world in the ATP rankings on Monday. If he wins on Sunday, he will even become world No. 6, one place from the best ranking of his career, reached in September 2021.
More details to come