Felix Auger-Aliassime made a shocking exit on Day 2 of the Australian Open after retiring from his opening match against Nuno Borges before the start of the fourth set. Auger-Aliassime was down two sets to one when he announced his retirement, thereby giving Borges a walkover into the second round.
Fans and analysts were left to wonder what might have happened to the Canadian. On the latest episode of the “Served with Andy Roddick” podcast, Roddick reacted in disbelief to Auger-Aliassime’s retirement.
“You know, I did have a results bias in that one. FAA, that was a little bit of a strange one. It’s a strange one, man. Like, cause you look up and he’s fit, he’s professional. You know, you don’t feel like he’s the kind of guy that’s not going to work. Played long into last year, right. Made that big, had a lot of reps us open and beyond, right,” Roddick said.
“Made up went from 28 in the world to five in the world. Maybe you need more time. You have to balance rest versus kicking it up and being ready to play five sets. But also we just don’t ever know what someone’s going through. And I have no inside information on the FAA. What I do know is that he said he was cramping at the end of the second set or beginning of the third set,” he added.
“When he stopped with cramps, they were two hours and nine minutes into the match. I don’t think the conditions were extreme. I don’t think they were crazy. Which means that he started feeling cramps at 1 hr 20 min, which is not the time when you would see someone cramp unless there was something else going on,” Roddick concluded.
Felix Auger-Aliassime Explains His Shock Retirement Call During R1 of the Australian Open
After Borges advanced to the second round, the 25-year-old Canadian explained why he retired from the game before the start of the fourth set in a postgame interview.
“I’m okay, but I just started cramping at the start of the third set. It became very difficult to be competitive at this level. I tried for a set, but yeah, wasn’t possible today,” Auger-Aliassime said.
While the Canadian couldn’t recall precisely when he started cramping, he said he had experienced a similar situation in the past and that the decision to retire was difficult for him.
“Obviously, you don’t panic. You think, ‘Oh, maybe it was just one bad movement or one jump that didn’t feel right.’ But then, as I started moving left and right, having to sprint, and every time I cramped, you know what’s happening,” the Canadian said.
“I want to be on the court winning. I want to be on the court competing with my opponent. I don’t want to be just standing there like a punching bag. So there’s no point, and you know to move on,” he added.
With the early exit from the Australian Open, Auger-Aliassime is not expected to be in action until the following ATP events in February or the European clay-court swing ahead of the French Open.
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