SHANGHAI — Casper Ruud advanced to the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals after Felix Auger-Aliassime retired from their fourth-round clash while trailing 5-2 in the opening set. The Norwegian progressed when the Canadian was forced to stop after appearing to tweak his knee on serve, with Ruud embracing his opponent at the net to seal a place in the last eight.
Auger-Aliassime seemed to twist his knee in the fourth game of the match and, after a brief discussion with new coach Ivan Ljubicic, decided he could not continue. Ruud said he had noticed the moment from the other side of the net. “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. He came to the net, and I kind of – I didn’t see it a hundred percent 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,” said Ruud.
Ruud, who sent a message of support in his post-match press conference, added: “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 a very nice person – so you don’t wish this for anybody. I hope he has a speedy recovery.”
It was a milestone day for Ruud, who reached his first-ever Shanghai Masters quarter-final and has now made the last eight at all nine Masters 1000 events. He will return to face Spanish wonderkid Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals on Friday, 16 October, with the pair yet to meet on the ATP Tour and Jodar set to walk on court as favourite. Should Ruud pull off the upset, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tommy Paul or Zizou Bergs await in the semi-finals, with Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Arthur Gea or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina potential final opponents.
For Auger-Aliassime, the setback comes at a difficult time for his ATP Finals ambitions. The 26-year-old sits 15th in the Live ATP Race to Turin and faces a demanding run on his favourite indoor hard courts to close the gap. If fit, he is scheduled to return at the European Open in Brussels, which begins on 19 October, before further appearances in Basel and Paris ahead of a potential trip to Turin.