Felix Auger-Aliassime makes the first major SF after the retirement of Carlos Alcaraz

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Felix Auger-Aliassime has been in the spotlight since the age of 14 when he broke through on the ATP Challenger Tour. On Tuesday, the 21-year-old Canadian played his first major semi-final at the US Open.

Auger-Aliassime led compatriot #NextGenATP, Carlos Alcaraz, 6-3, 3-1 when the Spaniard retired due to an undisclosed injury. Felix is the first Canadian to qualify for the US Open semi-finals in tournament history (since 1881) and the youngest man to qualify for the last four at Flushing Meadows since Juan Martin del Potro took over. won the trophy in 2009.

“It’s an incredible stage. It was a fantastic tournament for me. Of course, it was a strange ending today. But in the end, I finished,” Auger-Aliassime said in his interview on field. “I will have the chance to play on Friday against one of the best players in the world right now to have a chance to be in my first Grand Slam final. It’s amazing, I’m happy to have finished and I will try to win the next one. “

The 12th seed will then face second seed and two-time major finalist Daniil Medvedev, who won his only previous ATP Head2Head encounter in a final set tie-break in Toronto three years ago.

Alcaraz has won five straight sets against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk to get this far. The teenager wasn’t as sharp as he was earlier in the tournament, making 16 unforced errors in 13 games. The booming groundstrokes that have so often found their mark in the early fortnight fell in the net on Tuesday.

During the first change of the second set, an ATP physiotherapist went to Alcaraz and had a long discussion with the Spaniard, but did not treat him. A match later, Alcaraz retired, surprising Auger-Aliassime.

“No I do not have [know anything was wrong] until he called the physiotherapist. I don’t know what happened, clearly, but it’s unfortunate. I didn’t see it coming. He’s such a good player. You were amazing again tonight, “Auger-Aliassime told the Arthur Ashe stadium crowd.” I thought we were putting on a good show. “