Madrid Open descending into a farce as another star name pulls out with injury
The Madrid Open has fallen horribly flat as a succession of star names struggled with injuries and now the second men’s semi-final has ended prematurely.
Injury struck again on Friday night as an emotional Jiri Lehecka was forced to retire in the first set of his semi-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Czech, who ended Rafael Nadal’s final appearance at his home tournament on Tuesday, was hit by a back spasm in the sixth game.
He sought treatment off court before attempting to carry on, but he managed only three points before slumping to the court, picking himself up to shake hands with his opponent and then smashing his racket in tearful frustration.
It was a sad end to one of the best tournaments of the 22-year-old’s career and means Auger-Aliassime progresses to his first Masters 1000 final, where he will take on seventh seed Andrey Rublev.
This is the third match of the fortnight that Auger-Aliassime has not had to complete, with Jakub Mensik also retiring and top seed Jannik Sinner withdrawing through injury ahead of their scheduled quarter-final.
“It’s crazy,” said Canadian Auger-Aliassime, who had been having a difficult season. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened to a player before.
“It’s kind of a weird situation to be in on my part. It’s never happened to me in my career so far, a withdrawal or a walkover or retirement of this sort, and back-to-back like this. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw his back blocked on him.
“I feel really bad for him. I’ve had injuries myself, and we can all imagine how it feels to come out on a night like this, hoping to win to go through, having a battle with your opponent, and not being able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri, and I can’t do anything but try to prepare for Sunday.”
READ MORE: Andrey Rublev makes a brutally honest confession as he reaches Madrid Open final
The experiment of extending ATP Masters tournaments over two weeks has divided opinion in the tennis community, with the injuries affecting star players posing questions over the elongated event.
Social media comments have suggested tennis fans are not enjoying a tournament that feels like it has been in progress for more than two weeks, with the demands of being on-site and playing for two weeks seemingly stretching players to breaking point.
Carlos Alcaraz lost against Rublev as he nursed the arm injury that forced him out of tournaments in Monte Carlo and Barcelona last month.
Jannik Sinner then had to withdraw from his last-eight clash against Auger-Aliassime due to a hip problem.
That was before Daniil Medvedev pulled out of his quarter-final against Lehecka with a right leg injury.
Now Lehecka has joined the list of casualties, with Auger-Aliassime the most fortunate player in the draw as he has not had to win a match since the fourth round.
It means the Auger-Aliassime will leap back into the top 20 of the ATP rankings next week, as he is on course to leap 15 places in the list according to the updated live rankings.
Rublev will move above Casper Ruud and back into sixth place in the ATP Rankings if he beats Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s final, with his match-up against Auger-Aliassime as surprising a final as we have seen in a Masters 1000 final for many years.
