Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to Andrey Rublev in the Madrid Open final.

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime is on the verge of winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title.

Russia's Andrey Rublev beat Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in Sunday's Madrid Open final.

Pretty close for a Canadian.

Andrey Rublev won ????????? Felix Auger-Aliassime won the Madrid Open 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Aiming to become the first Canadian to win an FAA Masters 1000 event.

Instead, Rublev reached 1,000 singles victories in his second career#BOILING

— Ben Lewis (@BenLewisMPC) May 5, 2024

The 23-year-old from Montreal advanced to the final of the clay-court tournament after his semi-final opponent Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic withdrew due to injury in a 3-3 draw in the first set.

Auger-Aliassime didn't even take the court in the quarterfinals when his opponent, top seed Yannick Sinner, pulled out of the tournament with a hip injury.

He also walked in the third round when Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic retired from that match. Auger-Aliassime took a 6-1, 1-0 lead.

“It's crazy. “I don't know if this has ever happened to players before,” Oger-Aliassime said. “It's a strange situation on my part. It has never happened in my career so far to leave, walk or retire.

Auger-Aliassime beat fifth-seeded Casper Ruh of Norway 6-4, 7-5 in the fourth round and easily defeated 19th-ranked Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-0, 6-4 in the second round.

— With Associated Press files

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