NEW YORK – Carlos Alcaraz, the 18-year-old Spaniard who ignited the US Open last Friday with an upset victory over No.3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, abruptly withdrew from his quarter-final match on Tuesday night against seeded No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime while being down 6-2, 3-1.
Auger-Aliassime, the high-profile 21-year-old Canadian who has steadily climbed the rankings over the past two years, qualifies for his first Grand Slam semi-final where he will face No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev.
Alcaraz later said he had a problem with his adductor rectum, a muscle in his thigh and hip, but was able to control the pain early on. However, as the match progressed, he said it was getting bad enough that he couldn’t continue.
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“It’s really hard to finish a great tournament like this, but I had no choice but to keep playing,” he said. “I have to take care of my body and stay healthy.”
Auger-Aliassime had controlled the game by this point with his serve and forehand, beating Alcaraz seven times and hitting 14 winners. Alcaraz had spent a lot of time on the pitch just to make it through the round of 16, requiring 3 hours and 31 minutes in a five-set win over Peter Gojowczyk and 4 hours and 7 minutes to outlast Tsitsipas.
“Playing two games to a fifth set in a row, playing at a high intensity like four hours is really difficult for me,” he said. “I’m not used to playing these kinds of matches in a row so I think it’s really hard to recover for the next matches.”
Although Alcaraz had duct tape over the injured area early in the game, Auger-Aliassime said he was unaware that Alcaraz was injured.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s unfortunate to end up like this. At the same time, I think he can be very proud of himself, very positive, come away with his head held high and for me the tournament continues.”
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