(September 3, 2026) FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY – In a battle between two former US Open semifinalists, Auger-Aliassime, the No. 3 seed said he was feeling dizzy and seeing spots and couldn’t recover, losing to Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round on Thursday.
“It’s tough to talk about anything else than how I felt physically,” the Canadian said to reporters. “After a set and a half, I just couldn’t feel well and was dizzy and seeing spots and, yeah, couldn’t recover. I thought maybe it would pass, but it didn’t.
“So that’s the end of the tournament for me, and now back to the drawing board.”
“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.”
“When I lost the third set, no, because I was thinking maybe I take a break, maybe in 20 minutes I’ll feel better.
“But obviously it wasn’t the case, and not much you can do. You know, hydration, supplementation, but then if it doesn’t go away, I mean, the guy keeps on winning points, and you have to…
“So 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.”
The Canadian joins No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic on the sidelines as the highest seeds to be ousted in the men’s draw.
