Felix Auger-Aliassime's run at the U.S. Open concluded abruptly on Thursday after the No. 3 seed experienced a significant physical downturn during his second-round match against unseeded Karen Khachanov.
Auger-Aliassime won the first set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (5), but was unable to maintain his performance as Khachanov took the next three sets with scores of 6-3, 6-2, and 6-3.
Following the match, Auger-Aliassime revealed that he had not been feeling well during play, experiencing dizziness and visual disturbances. "After a set and a half, I just couldn’t feel well and was dizzy and seeing spots and, yeah, couldn’t recover," he stated. "I thought maybe it would pass, but it didn’t."
The Canadian described the episode as unprecedented in his career, differentiating it from typical cramps. "There were no signs in the last couple of days and no signs this morning, as well," Auger-Aliassime said. "Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m going to run some tests and see what comes out of it."
Despite the physical distress, Auger-Aliassime considered continuing the match, hoping his condition would improve. "So by the time it was 3-love, 4-love, I was, like, okay, let’s finish the match, let’s see, but I didn’t want to retire at that point," he explained.
Khachanov capitalized on Auger-Aliassime's struggles, breaking his serve seven times throughout the match and saving seven of his nine break point opportunities. Khachanov had previously reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2022.
"Karen is a great player. Look, I cannot beat him or anybody in this draw feeling the way I felt today," Auger-Aliassime remarked. "If I cannot move, we’re not talking about tennis here. It’s unfortunate. I wish we were talking about tennis. I wish that I was beaten and we were talking about what I could have done better tennis-wise, but it’s not the case."