Auger-Aliassime medical – Felix Auger-Aliassime was far from finished after beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Wimbledon’s Round of 16 on Sunday, furious at the timing of a medical timeout in the fourth set. The Canadian is set for a quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.
Felix Auger-Aliassime walked off the Wimbledon Centre Court with a win in hand, but not a settled mind.
After his Round of 16 victory on Sunday. the Canadian focused on a single moment that. in his view. changed the shape of the match. In the fourth set. with Auger-Aliassime up two sets to one and serving for the match at 5-4. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain was leading 40-15 when he collapsed to the ground in pain and took a medical timeout for a leg injury.
The timing lit a fuse. After the stoppage, Auger-Aliassime double-faulted to drop the game. He then lost the set on a tiebreak. Still, he didn’t let it linger in the deciding moments—Auger-Aliassime surged through the fifth set, winning 6-1 to seal his place in the quarterfinals.
When the two met at the net to shake hands, Auger-Aliassime made his frustration clear. He then went further in his post-match press conference, arguing that the tour needs to change its rules to stop players from using medical timeouts when their opponent is serving.
“The rule is a disgrace. I mark my words, the rule is a disgrace,” Auger-Aliassime said, before pressing his demand for change. “There doesn’t have to be a discussion. (At the start of) 2027, the rule has to change.”
The anger didn’t come with a delay or a softer tone—it arrived immediately after the match ended, tied to how that stoppage unfolded while he was trying to close out the fourth set.
The next test is already lined up. Auger-Aliassime will face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The pair last played in 2022, and their head-to-head record stands at 1-1.
Between now and that matchup, one question will hang over Wimbledon’s tennis courts: whether the rules Auger-Aliassime called “a disgrace” will actually be revisited—starting with the season he pointed to in his comments.
Wimbledon Felix Auger-Aliassime Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Novak Djokovic medical timeout leg injury quarterfinals tennis