Concerning scenes in Basel as Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime & Denis Shapovalov spark wave of shocking mid-match retirements at Swiss Indoors

Quarterfinals day at the Swiss Indoors saw a wave of heartbreaks, as Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov all retired midway through their matches in Basel. These retirements come in a time where several players have spoken out about the adverse effects of the challenging ATP schedule.

Ruud, Auger-Aliassime and Shapalova all delivered promising performances in their opening round matches at the ATP 500 event. Ruud arrived in Basel fresh off of his title finish at the Stockholm Open last week and kicked off his campaign with straight set wins over Quentin Halys and Stan Warwinka. However, his run came to an end against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, as he handed the Spaniard a walkover after the first set.

Elsewhere, Felix Auger-Aliassime had a similarly promising start to his time at the Swiss Indoors. The Canadian defeated Gabriel Diallo in his opening round match, before downing Marin Cilic in his round of 16 encounter. In his quarterfinals match, the 25-year-old was trailing Jaume Munar 3-6 when he pulled out of the game.

Lastly, after beginning his campaign in Basel on a strong note, Denis Shapovalov was up against Joao Fonseca for his quarterfinals encounter. The Canadian won the first set 6-3, only for Fonseca to win the next set 6-3. In the decider, Shapalova was trailing his Brazilian opponent 1-4 when he chose to retire.

With Casper Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov out of the running, the semifinals matches at the Swiss Indoors will now see a clash between Joao Fonseca and Jaume Munar, as well as Ugo Humbert and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Casper Ruud reflects on the ‘demanding’ ATP schedule

Casper Ruud at the ATP 500 Dallas Open 2025 (Image Source: Getty)

Last week at the Stockholm Open, Casper Ruud shared his thoughts on the ‘demanding' tennis calendar.

At the ATP 250, Danish tennis star Holger Rune was forced to retire midway through his semifinals match after he injured his Achilles tendon. Reflecting on the growing rate of injuries in a press conference, Ruud stated that back-to-back tournaments often take a toll on players, saying,

“It is very demanding when you go directly from tournament to tournament. Holger was in Shanghai last week and when something is so demanding, something like this can unfortunately happen. It is tough of course and we are really pushing our own limits at the moment. Holger was one of those who could still make it to the season finale, so his limit was definitely pushed too and it is just really unfortunate that it ended this way for him.

Ruud went on to add that all injuries are ‘probably’ a result of the hectic schedule, saying,

“We are all in some kind of risk zone when we step onto the pitch, but whether his injury has a direct connection to the tough schedule, I am not sure. In a way, all injuries are probably because of the tough schedule.”

Outside of Casper Ruud, several top ranked players, including Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz, have spoken out about the detrimental effect of the ATP calendar.

Edited by Riddhi Acharya