Dizzy and seeing spots, Auger-Aliassime leaves the US Open without an explanation
Felix Auger-Aliassime says he was dizzy and seeing spots a set and a half into his second-round defeat, that he had never felt anything like it and that nothing warned him. The Canadian No. 3 seed thought about retiring, chose to finish, and left New York with tests to run and no explanation.
Félix Auger-Aliassime, US Open 2026 | © AP Photo/Seth Wenig/SIPA
Felix Auger-Aliassime did not want to talk about his forehand, his second serve or Karen Khachanov. He wanted to talk about the fact that a set and a half into his second-round match at the US Open, he stopped being able to see properly.
“It’s tough to talk about anything else than how I felt physically,” the Canadian No. 3 seed said after losing 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday. “After a set and a half, I just couldn’t feel well and was dizzy and seeing spots and couldn’t recover. I thought maybe it would pass, but it didn’t.”
He has no explanation for it, and no precedent.
“I’ve never felt quite like that,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I’ve had cramps before. I’ve felt, okay, tired towards the end of matches, but in a normal way. This was abnormal a little bit, and there were no signs in the last couple of days and no signs this morning, as well. I’m not sure. I’m going to run some tests and see what comes out of it.”
Felix decided to finish rather than retire
He thought about stopping and talked himself out of it twice. The first time was after the third set, when he still expected the sensation to lift.
“I was thinking maybe I take a break, maybe in 20 minutes I’ll feel better,” he said. “But obviously it wasn’t the case, and not much you can do. Hydration, supplementation, but then if it doesn’t go away, the guy keeps on winning points, and you have to.”
The second time was in the fourth, by which stage the match was gone. “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.”
What the statistics had suggested
Watched without his account, the match looked like a serving collapse. Auger-Aliassime won 41% of the points behind his second serve, 20 of 49, against 61% for Khachanov. He made 47 unforced errors to 30 and served eight double faults to four. He faced 20 break points, saved 13 and was broken seven times.
He was asked what his opponent had been doing to make it so one-sided, and refused the premise entirely.
Look, I cannot beat him or anybody in this draw feeling the way I felt today
“Karen is a great player. Look, I cannot beat him or anybody in this draw feeling the way I felt today,” Auger-Aliassime said. “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.”
Auger-Aliassime’s next steps are practical. He will go home, see doctors, fitness coaches, physios and nutritionists, and expects the disappointment to take a day or two. He is also still without a coach and said he expects to name one “in the next couple of weeks.” Canada play a Davis Cup tie in Quebec later this month, against France, in his home city.
The defeat costs him 750 ranking points, the difference between a semi-final and a second round at this tournament.
The men’s draw has now lost the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds before the third round, along with the Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils, the No. 12 seed Rafael Jodar and Brandon Nakashima, who leads the ATP Tour in hard-court wins this season.
