Auger-Aliassime's Winning Streak Stopped By Unfortunate Retirement In Rotterdam
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Felix Auger-Aliassime has been on fire in recent weeks, but he was stopped by an injury at the 2025 Rotterdam Open.
Auger-Aliassime is known as an indoor hard-court specialist. There probably isn't a player on the ATP Tour who would like those conditions more than the Canadian, and it shows.
Six out of seven trophies that the Canadian player managed to win came on the indoor hard courts, and his most recent triumph came at the Montpellier Open just last week.
He came to Rotterdam on a four-match winning streak, and as a former champion at the ATP 500 event, he was one of the favorites to win. In the first round, the 23-year-old took on Andrea Vavassori, who got into the main draw thanks to winning two matches in the qualifying.
Vavassori doesn't often play singles matches, as he's mostly a doubles specialist, but he entered the qualifying in Rotterdam, and it proved to be a great decision for him.
Still, the Italian player didn't start well, as he was broken already in the first game of this match. Auger-Aliassime had a one-break lead, and given his serving qualities, he was expected to serve out of the set. Surprisingly, his opponent broke him back.
At 4-4, the Canadian worked his way to three break points, but he couldn't convert any. That's why the first set had to be decided in a tie-break.
Auger-Aliassime was the better player in the tie-break. He got the first mini-break and added one more later to win the first set of this match 7-3 in a tie-break.
In the second set, both players served well. But at 3-3, Auger-Aliassime got under pressure, and he was broken, falling behind 3-4. His opponent then showed his qualities from the doubles court, using his serve to his advantage.
Vavassori won the second set of the match 6-4, forcing a decider. As fans in Rotterdam were getting ready for the last set of the match, Auger-Aliassime walked up to his opponent.
The Canadian player told Vavassori that he couldn't continue, retiring from the match after two sets. That put an end to his winning streak and also disappointed fans in Rotterdam for two reasons.
The first of those is that they didn't get to see the full match, but the other reason is that the winner of this match was set to play against Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the tournament.
Many fans eyed the second-round matchup between Alcaraz and Auger-Aliassime, but that now won't happen. On the other hand, Vavassori will now be the happy many, as he will get to enjoy that second-round match against the young Spaniard.
