Felix Auger-Aliassime shares what Casper Ruud told him before retiring in Monte-Carlo

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Ruud forced to retire in Monte-Carlo, Auger-Aliassime moves on

Casper Ruud’s time at the Monte-Carlo Masters was cut short during his round-of-16 match against Felix Auger-Aliassime, after he was forced to retire due to injury.

Auger-Aliassime will now play Sinner, hoping to snap a four-match losing streak against the world No 2. Sinner has looked strong in Monte Carlo so far, including an impressive straight-sets win over Sebastian Korda in the previous round.

Ruud will hope the injury is not serious as he looks ahead to upcoming events on the clay swing, where he has traditionally been a strong performer.

Felix Auger-Aliassime attributes Casper Ruud’s injury to ‘bad luck’

After the match, Auger-Aliassime was asked at what point he felt Ruud started dealing with injury problems. “It came out of the blue, and I asked him at the net, he said, yeah, it happened suddenly at the start of the second.

“You know, the level physically was quite high in the first set, a long first set, a lot of, you know, gruelling rallies, but, you know, I think he’s ready for this type of match. I think it’s just bad luck. So I feel for him.

“It’s a guy that I respect a lot. I respect everything he’s done on the court, also off the court, great sportsmanship, respectful person.

“So, yeah, you feel for these guys when it happens, because you know what it feels like. It sucks. And, you know, it’s only the start of the clay season, so I hope he’s able to be back quickly.

“But if I just focus on the first set, I thought it was a good level of tennis.”

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Auger-Aliassime is embracing the best start to the clay season

Auger-Aliassime has typically found the early part of the clay swing tough, with several first-round losses at the Monte-Carlo Masters. But this time, he’s broken through to the quarterfinals.

Asked about his progress, Auger-Aliassime said: “Yeah, I mean, it’s the best start of the clay season I’ve had since I’m on tour.”

“So it took a few years to feel like I could step on the court, on the clay court and have the right intentions.

“But I feel like tactically I’m playing better fundamentals of clay court tennis than I have in the past, where in the past sometimes I would kind of just go off of instinct and maybe go off of how I’m feeling and try to replicate what I’m doing on hard courts, which is tough.

“So I think I’m a bit more patient, building my points a little bit better, and I’m feeling good physically. I worked really hard to get ready after Miami. So hopefully that pays off.”

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