Casper Ruud advanced to his first Shanghai Masters quarter-final after Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to retire injured just seven games into their fourth-round match. The Norwegian, seeded 20th, called the early end "very unfortunate" for his opponent.
Auger-Aliassime, the No. 4 seed, appeared to hurt his knee while serving at 1-2 in the second set, then lost five points in a row to get broken. He called the physio and had his knee strapped up, but asked for the bandages to be removed a couple of games later. He ultimately decided he could not continue, retiring after just 35 minutes while trailing 2-5 (15-15).
Ruud Notices the Turning Point
The result put Ruud into the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in Shanghai, and means he has now reached at least the quarter-final stage at all nine Masters 1000 tournaments on the ATP Tour. But it was not how the Norwegian wanted to advance, and he later revealed he noticed the moment things changed for Auger-Aliassime.
"Honestly, I mean, there's not that much to say. It was very unfortunate for him. It seemed to me that he maybe twisted his knee in the fourth game of the match," the 20th seed explained. "He came to the net, and I kind of, I didn't see it a hundred per cent because I'm focusing on the ball, but it looked like he kind of stumbled a bit with a wrong step. From that moment, it seemed like he was in a lot of pain, which is very unfortunate."
Same Fate Six Months Ago
Just six months ago, Ruud suffered the same fate when he faced Auger-Aliassime at the same stage of the Monte-Carlo Masters. The 27-year-old had to retire while Auger-Aliassime led 7-5 2-2 after picking up a calf injury. He sent his well-wishes to the Canadian as the tables turned in Shanghai.
"I'm very sorry for him, because it's a big match for both of us. I know what kind of player he is, what kind of person he is, very nice person, so you don't wish this for anybody. I hope he has a speedy recovery," Ruud added.
Next Up: Rafael Jodar
The former world No. 2 will now face rising star Rafael Jodar, who is through to his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final. They have never played each other, but both represented Team Europe at the Laver Cup in London last month.
"We are both in the same situation, I didn't play him, he didn't play me, so we don't really know. But we will both do our best to come out on top. I'm sure it will be a good match if we both play well," Ruud said. "We were just teammates in the Laver Cup team, so we had some practices together. He's a very nice kid, or nice young guy, one of the younger guys on tour. The year he's had has been unbelievable to watch from the outside, and now I have a chance to play him, so I'm excited."
