Felix Auger-Aliassime and Carlos Alcaraz following their match at US Open 2021
Here is all you need to know about what happened to Carlos Alcaraz in walkover loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2021 US Open
Carlos Alcaraz was ousted from the quarter-finals of the 2021 US Open following a thigh injury.
He was trailing by a set against young tennis sensation Felix Auger-Aliassime with the scores reading 6-3, 3-1.
Alcaraz had been soaring prior to his quarter-finals exit to the Canadian.
He started off the first round with a win over Brit, Cameron Norrie in straight sets – 4-6, 4-6, 3-6.
Then came Alcaraz’s dog fights against Arthur Rinderknech, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Peter Gojowczyk.
Following a four-set win over Rinderknech, he knocked world no. 3 Tsitsipas out of the tournament in a marathon five-setter – 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 0-6, 7-6.
Alcaraz took on Gojowczyk next, once again prevailing in a five-set victory – 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, 2-6, 0-6.
Taking out Gojowczyk, Alcaraz made it to the quarter-finals. He became the youngest-ever quarter-finalist since 1963. Knowing that he wouldn’t have it easy against Felix Auger-Aliassime, he took on the top-seeded Canadian.
Alcaraz went down 6-3 in the first set, and was trailing in the second as well – 3-1. That was when Alcaraz decided to give it up and retire following a right adductor injury.
The Spaniard then revealed that he had picked up the thigh injury since he had been a part of two epic five-set encounters.
Had he beaten Auger-Aliassime, Alcaraz would have been the youngest man to reach the US Open semi-finals since 1960, and the youngest-ever Grand Slam semi-finalist since 1989.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, progressed to the semi-finals and will be taking on the surging Daniil Medvedev, who has dropped just one set so far.
There were also talks of Alcaraz purposely pulling out since he knew that the match was all but done.
A walkover is when a player wins a tournament or a match without even taking part in it, or when his opponent quits mid-way through a contest.
It can occur due to several reasons like a player being unable to continue due to an injury or rarely due to the opponent breaking the rules – like what happened to Novak Djokovic at US Open 2020, when he was accused of hitting the line judge with the ball.
There are also other scenarios like the player turning up 30 minutes (and beyond) late for the game, which results in a walkover for the opponent.
Felix Auger-Aliassime was awarded a walkover win over Carlos Alcaraz since the Spaniard pulled out midway due to a right adductor injury.
A walkover is when a player wins a tournament or a match without even taking part in it – it might be due to several reasons.
The scoreline read 6-3, 3-1 in favour of Felix Auger-Aliassime when Carlos Alcaraz pulled out from the match.
Carlos Alcaraz is 18 years old.
Carlos Alcaraz is a Spaniard.
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