Canadian appeared to pull his left calf, but has downplayed concerns

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s return to the Nitto ATP Finals didn’t go as planned on Monday night, as the Canadian battled a calf issue during his 7-5, 6-1 defeat to home favourite Jannik Sinner in Turin.

After an encouraging start against the in-form Italian, Auger-Aliassime appeared to pull his left calf late in the first set while landing from a serve at 5-6. Though he continued to compete, the injury clearly affected his movement, but the No. 8 player in the PIF ATP Rankings later downplayed any concerns about his physical condition.

“No, not dangerous. I'm not too concerned. He's an amazing player. You have to give credit when the guy is just better than you,” said Auger-Aliassime. “Today he was better than me. I'll get ready for the next one.”

Auger-Aliassime, who is making his first appearance at the season finale since 2022, had matched Sinner through much of the opening set, but the Italian began to turn the tide with his. He won 100 per cent (21/21) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in the first set.

“He's tough to beat anywhere, especially here,” said Auger-Aliassime, who now trails Sinner 2-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “He started off amazing [and] never looked back really. From the first point to the last, he was amazing. Toughest guy to beat here.”

Still, the Canadian insisted he remains mentally strong despite the physical setback and defeat, keeping a balanced perspective about the nature of competition at the elite eight-man event.

“I've never been [afraid] because we're not going to war,” Auger-Aliassime said when asked about his mental approach to facing Sinner. “I do put in my mind that it's a battle, a tennis battle. I'm very focused, very driven.

“[I’ve] never been afraid of a tennis match. [You’re] more focused when you play at this level, everything needs to be very disciplined and very precise from the first moments.”

Monday’s encounter marked the fourth meeting between Auger-Aliassime and Sinner since August — a stretch during which the Italian has asserted his dominance over their growing rivalry. Just eight days prior to their Turin clash, they faced off in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters, where Sinner also triumphed, but in two tight sets.

“I've been playing him a few times this year, so I knew what to expect,” Auger-Aliassime added. “It's more like when you play this top level, you have to be extremely good. That's it.”

While the loss was a tough opening blow to his Turin campaign, Auger-Aliassime will hope the calf issue settles quickly as he looks to regroup for his remaining round-robin matches, which will come against Ben Shelton on Wednesday and Alexander Zverev on Friday.