#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was the 25th seed, has withdrawn from Roland Garros due to a left adductor injury. Fellow #NextGenATP player Alejandro Davidovich Fokina takes his spot in the draw and will face Aussie Jordan Thompson in the first round.
“I was feeling great. And then during my semi-finals [in Lyon] I started feeling pain in my groin, so yeah, I didn’t expect it. But at the same time, we had time to think about it, do the exams, and it was a very thoughtful decision. I think I’m at peace just knowing that it’s not something [serious], that it’s gonna heal pretty fast. But I have to be careful,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But I’m at peace knowing that I’ll probably be able to be ready for the grass”
Auger-Aliassime says that his goal is to return in Stuttgart, as his lesion is only a Grade 1 that he is told should heal within seven to 10 days. But he did not want to risk making his injury worse by playing best-of-five sets in Paris.
“We were waiting to maybe get some exams done today in Paris, and then we went this morning, and they weren’t in favour of me playing,” Auger-Aliassime said. “After that we took the decision of pulling out.”
The teen was set to make his main draw debut in Paris after losing in the second round of qualifying last year. At the time, Auger-Aliassime was No. 178 in the ATP Rankings. But after reaching the final of the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon this week, the Canadian will climb to a career-best World No. 22 on Monday.
It has been a breakthrough season for Auger-Aliassime, who having made his first ATP Tour final in Rio de Janeiro, is the youngest player to reach at least two tour-level finals since Andy Murray in 2005-06. The Canadian also made his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in Miami.
