Félix Auger-Aliassime’s first match in Halle, Germany, ended abruptly. The Quebecer retired in the second round on Monday against Dominik Köpfer. He was trailing 4-6 and 3-4 when he made his decision.
Auger-Aliassime perfectly mastered one of his favorite weapons, the serve. He had nine aces in the first set and seven in the second. And he had passed 72% of his first balls.
It got stuck somewhere else. Jostled by the variety of his opponent’s shots, the Montrealer slipped a few times on the German turf, and in the eighth game of the second round, he signaled to the referee that he had to withdraw due to a pain in left hip.
I don’t think he suffered a serious injury and I think he will be back on the courts soon.
indicated Köpfer in a post-match press briefing about Auger-Aliassime.
Everything worked today, I was focused, added the German. If I had continued to serve like this, I obviously would have won this match. I have already played two long matches in Stuttgart, which worked in my favor. I hope I can continue in this direction.
The 70th in the world ranking took the lead 2-0 in their series of clashes. He beat the 18th at the ATP in Paris in 2021.
In 2023, Auger-Aliassime also withdrew from the Halle tournament.
Raonic emerges victorious from a close duel
For his part, Milos Raonic chose the ATP 500 tournament at Queen’s, in London, to continue his preparation on grass for the Wimbledon grand slam, which will begin on July 1.
The great Ontario player, 186th in the world, beat Briton Cameron Norrie (39th) in the first round in three sets of 6-7 (6/8), 6-3 and 7-6 (11/9).
Open in full screen mode
Milos Raonic
Photo: Getty Images / Kelly Defina
True to form, Raonic stunned his opponent with 47 aces. He saved two match points in the tiebreaker and won on his third match point.
This is his third victory over Norrie in three clashes, but his first two victories dated from 2019 and 2020, and were contested on hard court.
Raonic will face in the next round the winner of the match between the American Taylor Fritz (12th) and the Japanese Taro Daniel (85th), from qualifying.
