Auger-Aliassime retires vs. Ruud with knee injury

Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime retired with a knee injury while trailing Norway’s Casper Ruud 5-2 in the first set of their fourth-round match at the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday, ending his run at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The match, a fourth-round tie on the ATP Tour, lasted about 36 minutes, according to Tennis Temple. Ruud, ranked 24th in the world, advances to a quarter-final against Rafael Jódar, who beat Botic van de Zandschulp in three sets after losing the first.

Auger-Aliassime, the world No. 6 from Montreal, appeared to hurt his knee in the fourth game after dropping serve to fall behind 1-3. Ruud said Auger-Aliassime seemed to twist his knee after moving to the net and stumbling on a wrong step, and that he looked to be in a lot of pain from that point, Tennis365 reported. Auger-Aliassime was heard telling his team that “it hurts too much.”

In comments Tennis365 attributed to the French newspaper L’Équipe, Auger-Aliassime said he felt something in his knee on a point at 2-1. “I tried to keep playing, but the pain was too intense,” he said. He added that he was going home for tests and hoped it was not serious and that he could play in his next tournament.

The exit ended a four-match winning streak for the Canadian over Ruud and cut short what had been a steady week in China. Auger-Aliassime beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli and then Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, in the third round on Monday to reach the last 16 in Shanghai for a second straight year. Last year he lost at the same stage to Arthur Rinderknech.

The injury also complicates his push to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. Auger-Aliassime, a semi-finalist at the 2025 ATP Finals, sits 15th in the Race to Turin, 415 points behind Alex de Minaur, who holds the eighth and final qualifying place, Tennis365 said.

The next scheduled stop is the European Open, an ATP 250 tournament in Brussels, where Auger-Aliassime is registered to defend his title next week. Whether he plays will depend on the results of his medical examinations. Neither the extent of the knee injury nor a timeline for his return has been confirmed.

Ruud, meanwhile, moves on to face Jódar in the quarter-finals as the Shanghai draw narrows to the final eight.

Via Tennis365 and Tennis Temple.

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