Felix Auger-Aliassime Struggling to Find Answers for his Injury After Retiring from his Australian Open First Round

Felix Auger-Aliassime crashes out of the Australian Open after struggling with cramps against Nuno Borges.

Felix Auger-Aliassime Struggling to Find Answers for his Injury After Retiring from his Australian Open First Round

Felix Auger-Aliassime (Image via X/First Serve)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Felix Auger-Aliassime left the John Cain Arena completely devastated after retiring from his opening round match at the Australian Open. The No.7 seed struggled with cramps against Portugal’s Nuno Borges in Melbourne before deciding not to continue with the match despite winning the first set of the match.

Auger-Aliassime arrived in Melbourne dreaming of a deep run, having reached the semi-finals of the last Grand Slam tournament in New York. The Canadian star was seeking to begin the 2026 major season in similar form, but began struggling with his upper left leg after the first set of his encounter against Borges.

The Canadian was the best player on the court for only the first set, beating his Portuguese opponent 6-3. He was destined to breeze past Borges, but in the second set, he couldn’t keep up with the momentum. Borges took advantage of Auger-Aliassime’s slow reaction and movement on the court by striking the ball with resolute power.

In the third set, Auger-Aliassime called a medical time out after failing to win the ninth game. After receiving treatments, he returned back to the court and Burges wasted no time to win the set 6-4. Auger-Aliassime had another treatment before the fourth set, but after playing just two points, he decided to retire.

The 25-year-old retired, meaning Borges claimed the victory in 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Afterwards, Auger-Aliassime was asked how he felt after retiring from his first-round match. The Paris Masters finalist revealed that he lacked the best answer to give regarding his cramps, but remains determined to find solutions to them:

I don’t have all the answers right now. I try to be very professional in everything I do and prepare well. I love this sport and I love playing it, so I try to do everything I can to be ready. Obviously, it hurts even more, because if I were self-conscious and thought I wasn’t really ready or that I wasn’t giving it my all, then I have to be honest with myself, but even being honest with myself, I can’t quite figure out why this is happening. It didn’t happen to me before, so I’ll have to work it out.

Felix Auger-Aliassime told the media

Borges, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2024, his best run at the tournament, will face Australia’s Jordan Thompson. The 28-year-old reached the third round last year before losing to World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in four sets at the Rod Laver Arena.

Felix Auger-Aliassime explains his cramp during his opening match in Melbourne

Felix Auger-Aliassime will not forget his exit from the Australian Open in a hurry. He opened his 2026 campaign at the United Cup in Perth, where Canada crashed out in the group stage. This is not the first time Auger-Aliassime has cramped in his career, but given the level of physical preparation for the Australian Open, it looks strange.

Felix Auger Aliassime
Felix Auger Aliassime (via ATP Tour)

During the aforementioned press conference, he said he began to notice that his movements were poor in the third set and that, though he tried not to panic, he focused on the match. The 2025 ATP Finals semi-finalist added that the more he sprinted on the court, the more he felt cramps, which led him to retire even though he wanted to fight till the end:

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. 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.

Felix Auger-Aliassime told the media

Auger-Aliassime wasn’t the only Canadian player forced to retire on Monday (January 19) at the Australian Open. Marina Stakusic, a qualifier, was taken off the court in a wheelchair after retiring from her women’s singles match against Priscilla Hon. Just like her compatriot, she began struggling with cramps in the third set.

Also Read: