Felix Auger-Aliassime is facing heavy backlash over his on-court exchange with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during their fourth-round match at the Wimbledon Championships on Sunday.
The controversy centered on an unwritten rule of tennis etiquette surrounding medical timeouts. Late in the fourth set, Auger-Aliassime was leading two sets to one and serving for the match at 5-4. With Fokina ahead 40-15 in the game, the Spaniard chased a ball behind the baseline, slipped on the grass, and twisted his left ankle. He collapsed to the ground and immediately called for a medical timeout.
After play resumed, Auger-Aliassime double-faulted, lost his service game, and went on to lose the fourth-set tiebreak. However, the Canadian recovered to win the match 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-1 and advance to the quarterfinals.
The two players then had a tense exchange at the net. Auger-Aliassime told Davidovich Fokina he was unhappy with the timing of the medical timeout and declined to shake his hand. He later addressed the incident during his post-match press conference, stating that stopping the game to call the physiotherapist seemed like a ‘disgraceful rule’ to him.
Tennis insider Jose Moron criticized Auger-Aliassime for his reaction, calling his frustration ‘utterly incomprehensible.’
Some of the fans also took a dig at the Canadian. One blamed him for going ‘overboard’ and calling him a ‘complete idiot,’ commenting:
Stating that Auger-Aliassime should have shook hands with Fokina, another follower wrote:
Along similar lines, another fan chimed in:
What did Felix Auger-Aliassime say about his heated exchange with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina?
In the post-match press conference, Felix Auger-Aliassime was asked about his heated exchange with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the net. Refusing to talk about the interaction, the Canadian weighed in on the tennis rules, saying:
“Well, no, the interactions between him and I, I don’t want to get into that. If he wants to come in here and talk about it, he can. But he knows my opinion. Now, what I can say though is that I think the rule has to change. I think that obviously as long as the rules like that, player will use it in their advantage. And I think that it’s very simple,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“If you’re hurt bad or you’re hurt while the game’s going on of your opponent in the middle of the game the opponent is serving you the shot clock is on and you basically, if you’re hurt bad you’re forfeiting every point until you can call the physio, and if the physio helps you to recover, then you play your service game right, and 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. I don’t see any other sport where you can do that. That’s it, and I mark my words. It’s a disgrace of a rule.”
Auger-Aliassime is now all set to compete against Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
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