Auger-Aliassime retires hurt in Shanghai, Brussels defence in doubt

Knee gives way at 2-1

Félix Auger-Aliassime's Shanghai campaign ended in just 35 minutes on Wednesday. The Canadian, seeded fourth at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, retired from his fourth-round match against Casper Ruud while trailing 5-2 in the opening set, after hurting his left knee early in the contest.

The trouble started in the fourth game. Auger-Aliassime called for the physio, received treatment and tried to play on, but a few games later he decided he could not continue. "I felt something in my knee on a point at 2-1. I tried to keep playing, but the pain was too intense," he said afterwards, according to French-language outlet We Love Tennis.

It is a painful way to exit a tournament in which he had looked sharp. In the third round he came through a three-setter against Pablo Carreño Busta 6-3 4-6 6-1, ending the Spaniard's run and setting up the meeting with Ruud.

Brussels title defence in doubt

The timing could hardly be worse. Auger-Aliassime is entered at the European Open in Brussels, which starts this weekend with qualifying and where he is the defending champion and top seed. He said he would return home for medical tests before deciding whether he can play there, according to Belgian daily L'Avenir, which called his possible absence a blow for the tournament's headline line-up.

The injury also lands in the closing weeks of the race for the ATP Finals in Turin. The Canadian reached the semi-finals there last November and, as French site TennisActu points out, has many points to defend before the end of the season. Every week on the sidelines makes it harder to secure one of the eight places, and a knee problem now significantly complicates his qualification bid.

Ruud meets Jódar for the first time

For Ruud, the retirement opens the door to a Shanghai quarter-final against Spain's Rafael Jódar. The Norwegian had earned his place in the last 16 by beating Learner Tien 6-4 7-6(3), and he was firmly in control on Wednesday before the match was cut short.

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Jódar booked his place in the last eight earlier in the day with a 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2 comeback win over Botic van de Zandschulp, his third consecutive victory in Shanghai after dropping the opening set. The 20-year-old from Madrid has now reached four Masters 1000 quarter-finals this season. He and Ruud have never met on tour, so their quarter-final will be a first encounter.

There was an echo of an earlier meeting between Ruud and Auger-Aliassime this season: at Monte-Carlo in April, the roles were reversed when Ruud retired against the Canadian in the third round of Monte-Carlo, forced to stop at 7-5 2-2 with a calf problem, as Tennis Canada reported at the time.

The other quarter-final confirmed on Wednesday pits fifth seed Daniil Medvedev against Tommy Paul. Medvedev beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 7-5, while Paul ended Zizou Bergs' run 7-6(5) 6-4. Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, now heads home for scans that will decide whether he can defend his title in Brussels next week.