Félix Auger-Aliassime now knows the identity of his opponent for the semi-final of the Madrid Tennis Open on Friday, and it is perhaps not the one he anticipated or, possibly, feared.
About 48 hours after eliminating the Spaniard Rafael Nadal in front of his compatriots, the Czech Jiri Lehecka completed the semi-finals of the men’s singles following the retirement of the Russian Daniil Medvedev, Thursday evening at the ‘Caja Magica’
Fourth player in the world and third seed in the tournament, Medvedev resigned after the first set, which Lehecka won 6-4.
Medvedev appeared to injure his right thigh midway through the opening set and required treatment on two occasions in hopes of easing the discomfort, after the fifth and seventh games.
Serving with a score of 4-4, Medvedev was the victim of a break, and Lehecka continued by giving only one point to his serve to complete the first set in just over 30 minutes.
It was after this game that Medvedev conceded victory.
“It’s never easy in a match like this,” Lehecka said, referring to Medvedev’s withdrawal, in an interview published on the ATP website.
“If I had to choose how to win a match, it wouldn’t be like this. It’s never easy to see your opponent struggling, but at that moment you need to focus on yourself and try to play at your maximum level. »
Qualified for the semi-final round following the withdrawal of world number two, Italian Jannik Sinner, Auger-Aliassime seemed destined to cross swords with Medvedev, a rival against whom he suffered seven defeats in as many matches, all played on hard surface.
Rather, the 23-year-old Montrealer, 35th in the world, will face a rival who is a year younger, who is ranked 31st in the ATP rankings, and who won their only match.
This match took place during the round of 16 of the Australian Open, in January 2023, and Lehecka triumphed in four sets, including the last two in a tiebreaker, after losing the first set.
On his way to the semi-final of the tournament in Madrid, Auger-Aliassime delivered his most convincing performance against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, sixth player in the world, whom he beat in two sets of 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday .
Auger-Aliassime will participate in a third career semi-final at a Masters 1000, and his first since October 2022 in Paris, where he lost to the Dane Holger Rune.
In 2019, Auger-Aliassime also reached the semi-final at the Miami Open, but lost against the American John Isner.
In Lehecka’s case, it is a first semi-final at a Masters 1000 tournament.
The other semi-final of the men’s singles will see the Russian Andrey Rublev (8th) face the American Taylor Fritz (13th).
