Following his run to the US Open semi-finals, Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC) has withdrawn from Team Canada’s Davis Cup World Group I tie in Halifax, NS on September 12-13 due to fatigue.
Auger-Aliassime beat three seeded players en route to the final four in New York, including Alexander Zverev (No. 3), Andrey Rublev (No. 15) and Alex de Minaur (No. 8). He lost 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner on Friday, becoming just the second player to win a set against the Italian at the tournament after fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov did so during his third-round match.
“I’d like to thank the fans for all their support these past two weeks, especially all the support from back home in Canada,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s been a long and tough summer on the body and on the mental side. Now, it’s time for me to take some rest and recover, and that explains why I won’t be part of the Davis Cup team playing in Halifax next week. I wish the guys all the best, they will have my support and I’ll always cherish those moments playing for my country and playing Davis Cup. I’m sure we’ll have many more good moments in the future and I’m already looking forward to being back on the team. But, I’ll have to miss this next one in Halifax. So, all the best to the team. To the fans, thank you for supporting Canadian tennis, and I’ll see you all on the courts very soon.”
“It’s never easy to lose a player of Félix’s quality from the team, but we understand his decision and need to recover,” said Frank Dancevic, Team Canada Captain. “We all saw his inspiring run to the semi-finals at the US Open and are so proud of what he was able to accomplish. Meanwhile, we still have a very strong roster for the tie, and are confident we have what it takes to advance.”
The Canadian team will now be led by Gabriel Diallo (Montreal, QC), who is joined by Liam Draxl (Newmarket, ON), Alexis Galarneau (Laval, QC), and Cleeve Harper (Calgary, Alberta) for the tie at Scotiabank Centre, where a place in next year’s Davis Cup Qualifiers is up for grabs.
Photo: Martin Sidorjak
