Félix Auger-Aliassime continued his perfect start to the clay season following Casper Ruud’s retirement in their Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters round-three meeting on Thursday.
Ruud was forced to concede the match at 7-5, 2-2 due to an apparent calf injury.
The opening set lasted over an hour with Auger-Aliassime applying most of his pressure from 1-3 down. The 25-year-old from Montreal converted on two of six break points, one which came in the 11th game before he served out the set. The world No. 7 built off his strong round-two performance, finishing with two more winners than his previous match’s tally, firing 23.
Auger-Aliassime had another slow start on the Monégasque dirt. The Canadian No. 1 was on pace for a comfortable opening hold at 40-love in the second game, but Ruud managed to force deuce before eventually holding an early break point. The Norwegian chased down Auger-Aliassime drop volley to convert and lead 2-0.
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At 0-3, the Montrealer worked his way out of a tight service game to get on the board, and he picked things up from there. Auger-Aliassime broke from 3-1, love-40, then fended off break point in the ensuing game to complete the comeback, sitting even at three apiece.
Both players held comfortably up until the crucial end of the set. The Canadian was patient at 5-5, breaking in the over 13-minute game to serve for the opener. Ruud nearly kept the set alive at 30-40, but the Norwegian committed three of his 31 unforced errors on the day and dropped the opener.
Ruud managed to save break point in the opening game of the second, but began to feel some discomfort on return, taking a medical timeout at 1-1. The world No. 12 played through two more games before he was unable to continue.
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Auger-Aliassime is now the first Canadian to reach the quarter-finals in every ATP Masters 1000 event.
The Canuck clashes with world No. 2 and Sunshine Double winner Jannik Sinner in the last eight. The two have only met on clay once back in Madrid 2022, where the Canadian won in straight sets.
Feature Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
