Felix Auger-Aliassime was missing on day 3 of the United Cup, and the Canadian has now confirmed why that was the case.
Canada faced Chile in their opening tie at the event. Auger-Aliassime was expected to face Nicolas Jarry in the singles, and then also compete in the mixed doubles alongside Leylah Fernandez.
World No. 314 Steven Diez replaced Auger-Aliassime in the singles and doubles. Diez lost the singles in straight sets, but he and Fernandez won a dramatic doubles encounter to seal a 2-1 victory over Chile for Team Canada.
Auger-Aliassime, who won the 2023 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the admirable work he has done, provided the reason why he could not compete for Team Canada in an interview at the tournament.
"I wanted to play. I came here early on the 24th getting ready. The last few days, something came up again with my knee and I started getting pain again."
The 2021 US Open semifinalist has had issues with his knee in the past. He withdrew from the Monte-Carlo Masters last season due to a problem with his left knee. Hopefully, knee injuries do not become a consistent difficulty for the 23-year-old.
However, Auger-Aliassime remains hopeful of competing during the United Cup, and acknowledges that replacements being allowed is one of the benefits of team events.
"I guess that's a good thing that it's a team event. The second player can come in and play. Then I can see if later in the event I can be ready to play again."
Auger-Aliassime has spoken previously about wanting to be able to recover quicker from physical problems. Hopefully, he can do just that, and then get an ample amount of match practice before the Australian Open.
Last season was difficult for Auger-Aliassime for long periods, and this is an unfortunate early disruption that he will look to move past as quickly as possible.
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