Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime said he felt far from his best and it affected his ability to compete during Thursday’s second-round loss at the US Open to Karen Khachanov.
Auger-Aliassime won the first set 7-6 in a tiebreak (7-5), but dropped the next three 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to end his tournament prematurely.
“Unfortunately, I felt far from my best midway through yesterday’s match, which made it difficult to compete in a way I know I can. I love going out there and competing, so for now, I’m going to take the time to work on stronger preventative measures and make sure I’m better prepared moving forward,” Auger-Aliassime said as part of a social media post Friday.
He also alluded to feeling dizzy in his post-match news conference a day earlier.
The Montreal native was accurate on only 58 per cent of his first serves and faced 20 break points, surrendering seven. He also had eight double faults and had 47 unforced errors compared to Khachanov’s 30.
The 26-year-old picked up a four-set opening-round win against Rinky Hijikata earlier this week.
The No. 4 player in the world, Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semifinals at last year’s US Open where he fell to Jannik Sinner. It was tied for his deepest run at a Grand Slam after he reached the 2021 US Open semis.
Auger-Aliassime previously reached the quarter-final at both Wimbledon and Roland-Garros this season.
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