Spanish teen Carlos Alcaraz says he stopped playing his U.S. Open quarterfinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime because of an issue with a muscle in his right leg.
Alcaraz said he felt the problem in his right adductor before taking the court Tuesday night.
He was coming off two consecutive five-set victories — including over No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round — that made the 18-year-old from Spain the youngest man in the quarterfinals of New York’s hard-court Grand Slam tournament since 1963 but also made it “really tough to recover.”
Alcaraz retired from the match while trailing 6-3, 3-1 in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It’s really tough to end a great tournament like this, but I had no choice,” Alcaraz said.
“First of all, I have to take care of my body.”
The 12th-seeded Auger-Aliassime said he “really didn’t see anything” during the match that led him to believe his opponent would need to stop.
It was not immediately clear why Alcaraz retired from the match at the time until the 18-year-old fronted the media.
Auger-Aliassime was leading comfortably at the time and called it “a weird ending.”
Auger-Aliassime is a 21-year-old from Canada who is coached by Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle.
He will face No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev for a berth in the final. It’s the 21-year-old’s first Grand Slam semifinal.
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