Felix Auger-Aliassime says his recent run at the Madrid Open was affected by a virus that made him doubt his participation in the tournament at one stage.
The Canadian believes there was a virus outbreak at the tournament with ‘a lot’ of his peers experiencing similar symptoms. One of those affected was Andrey Rublev who beat Auger-Aliassime to win his second Masters 1000 title on Sunday. This Russian struggled with a suspected virus, as well as an anaesthetised foot, throughout the tournament and will undergo a full check-up at a hospital on Monday.
Auger-Aliassime was unsure if he would be able to play his third round match against Jakub Mensik but received a stroke of luck with the Czech retiring from their match earlier in the second set. Giving him more time to recover. Although he believes his cramping in the final was linked to his body being ‘tired’ of fighting illness.
“I was also struggling with my stomach mid-tournament. Wasn’t even sure if one day I could play.” He said.
“Credit to him (Rublev), as well, and like he said in his speech, the medical staff because I think a lot of players, there was kind of a virus maybe in Madrid, I heard, were dealing with things, and even though I was lucky that I didn’t really play the quarters and semis, all that added up, came out today with the cramps, I think it was physically — I haven’t cramped much in my career, so yeah, I think it was just the body being tired of fighting a virus during the week.”
Auger-Aliassime’s run to his maiden Masters 1000 final is one that he will not forget for a while due to a series of circumstances that went in his favour. In two of his matches, his opponents were forced to retire. Between those retirements, he was also handed a walkover in the quarter-finals following the withdrawal of top seed Jannik Sinner due to a hip injury. When he took to the court for Sunday’s final, it was the first full match he had played in five days.
Nevertheless, the 23-year-old is drawing positives from what he admits was a ‘weird’ week on the Tour. His most notable victory in Madrid was against Casper Ruud in the fourth round who is the first top 10 player he has beaten on clay since 2021.
“Day by day I feel like I can look again today, even with the circumstances, there were some good moments where I showed a good level.” He said.
“Obviously, it was a weird week with all the walkovers, but I’m going to head into next week with the same confidence I came in this week actually, this tournament, I felt like I could play well.”
“Rome is the same thing. I feel like it’s a tournament where I have had good memories, as well, in the past. I’m going to try to just keep going, keep doing the things I’m doing well, not put too much pressure, expectations that I need to be perfect, and enjoy. Enjoy the days and learn from the downs. Stay cool and take it easy.”
Auger-Aliassime has risen 15 places up the PIF ATP rankings to 20th in the world which is his highest position since October.
