Auger-Aliassime Worried: "I can't find the reason why this is happening to me, it didn't happen before"

Felix Auger Aliassime was one of those names that had the opportunity to resurge in this 2026 Australian Open amidst the rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, following a strong season finish, but things don't always go as planned.

The seventh seed in Melbourne started his debut against Nuno Borges well, winning the first set, but physical issues emerged on the court to completely halt Felix Auger Aliassime who ended up heavily impacted. With a mix of sadness for having to retire and frustration, the Canadian faced the press.

"I'm okay, but I started to cramp at the beginning of the third set. It became very difficult for me to be competitive at this level," confessed Felix, who struggled through the third set but confirmed his withdrawal once he fell behind on the scoreboard.

What's happening to Felix Auger-Aliassime? Why did he withdraw from the 2026 Australian Open?

"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. It obviously hurts even more because if I were self-aware and thought that I wasn't really prepared or not giving my best, then I have to be honest with myself, but even being honest with myself, I don't quite find the reasons why this is happening. It didn't happen to me before, so I'll have to figure it out."

Cramps in his 2026 Australian Open debut

"This has never happened to me, especially so early in a tournament. If I had issues like this with Jannik at the US Open, we would already be in the semifinals, in the third set, but yes, I don't remember ever experiencing cramps like this so early in a tournament, so early in a match. I don't recall very well if it was at the end of the second or the beginning of the third, but around there. Obviously, I don't want to panic. You think maybe it was just a wrong move or a jump that didn't sit well with me, but then, as I started to move side to side, having to accelerate, and every time I cramp up, you know what happens."

"It's not my first time. I just knew that it wasn't going well. I don't like to be on the court like that. I want to win, I want to compete with my opponent. I don't want to stand there like a punching bag. It doesn't make sense, and we need to move on. We were very careful with our preparation and the time on the court to get ready for tough matches. I would spend three to four hours on the court, some days easing off a bit to not overdo it. As a team, we were as precise as possible. It's not the time to blame anyone, it's time to come together and find solutions."

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Auger-Aliassime, preocupado: "No encuentro la razón por la que me ocurre, no me pasaba antes"