Injury blow ends Felix Auger-Aliassime's Australian Open hopes

The seventh seed at the opening Grand Slam tournament of the year, Auger-Aliassime entered the Australian Open as a potential contender to go deep into the event, following a strong end to his 2025 campaign that saw him achieve some of the best results of his career.

However, his dream of a deep run in Melbourne came to a sudden halt on Monday, with the Canadian forced to retire in his opening match against Portugal's Nuno Borges.

Auger-Aliassime started the match with a strong opening set, but, after dropping the second set to the world No 46, began cramping at the start of the third set.

Borges ultimately moved into a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 lead inside the John Cain Arena, before Auger-Aliassime made the decision to retire from the contest.

The Canadian is the first top-8 seed across either the men's or women's draw to exit the tournament, and his departure is arguably the biggest surprise of the event so far.

And, speaking in his post-match press conference, the 25-year-old revealed frustration and confusion regarding his exit from the tournament.

He said: "I want to be on the court competing with my opponent. I don't want to be just standing there, you know, like a punching bag. So there's no point.

"I don't have all the answers now. I'm trying to be very professional at everything I do, prepare well. I love this sport, and I love to play. So I try to do everything I can in my control to get ready.

"It hurts even more, because you know, if I wasn't really ready or I wasn't doing everything, then you have to be honest with yourself.

"But even with being honest with myself, I'm not totally finding the reasons why this is happening. It wasn't happening in the past, so I'll have to figure it out."

Auger-Aliassime was not the only Canadian player forced to retire on Monday, with qualifier Marina Stakusic taken off the court in a wheelchair after retiring from her women's singles match against Priscilla Hon.

Much like her compatriot, Stakusic claimed the opening set against the home favourite, though was trailing 1-6, 6-4, 5-3 when she retired, also apparently due to cramping.

That was one of two retirements in the women's singles draw on Monday, with qualifier Linda Klimovicova leading 6-3, 3-2 before opponent Francesca Jones retired.

Auger-Aliassime's exit from the tournament means that Borges progresses to face wildcard Jordan Thompson in round two, with the home favourite having beaten Juan Manuel Cerundolo in his first match.

The Canadian's exit means that 11th seed and three-time Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev is the highest-ranked player in this mini-section of the draw, with third seed Alexander Zverev remaining the top player in this quarter.

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