World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime has been forced to withdraw from the Dubai Tennis Championships due to injury.
The ATP 500 tournament’s organizers verified Auger-withdrawal Aliassime’s on Monday.
Felix Auger-Aliassime sustains an injury.
Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the final of the 2022 Open 13 Provence after winning his first ATP Tour title in Rotterdam.
His stellar form has seen him break into the top-ten reaching a career-high ranking in the process.
Auger-Aliassime has been struggling with an unspecified back problem, but has made no statement as yet.
The 21-year-old was seeded third in Dubai and has been replaced in the draw by lucky loser Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
Popyrin faces Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round in Dubai. They are in a quarter of the draw devoid of seeded players barring Auger-Aliassime’s compatriot Denis Shapovalov.
Auger-Aliassime was not moving well at the end of the final in Marseille, with Andrey Rublev asking too much of the Next-Gen prospect.
One of the best
Rublev credited the Canadian’s fight after that final, describing him as one of the best players on tour.
“All the battles I have had with Felix since the first time back in 2018 have had drama,” Rublev said in his on-court interview.
“All have had at least one set that went 7-6 and now he is one of the greatest players. Especially this season, he is on top now. It was a pleasure to share a court with him and have an amazing final like this.”
ATP Tour
The Russian’s memory did not fail him as in all four meetings, he has contested a tiebreak with Auger-Aliassime.
Auger-Aliassime is a relatively big player who moves well making him a challenging opponent on hard courts, while he has been less impressive on clay.
Should he need an extensive break, it wouldn’t be surprising if he opted to skip part of the clay court season, and looked to build towards a strong effort at Wimbledon.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is now 15-4 for the year having enjoyed a strong start that included a Grand Slam quarterfinal. This follows a run to the US Open last four at the tail-end of 2021.
Read Related News On TDPel Media
