Felix Auger-Aliassime collapses at US Open after winning first set

Felix Auger-Aliassime’s lead was gone in a New York minute.

The No. 3 seed’s run at the U.S. Open came to a crashing end Thursday as the Canadian won the first set against unseeded Karen Khachanov in a tiebreak, 7-6 (5), only to watch Khachanov take the next three straight sets, 3-6, 2-6, 3-6.

But Auger-Aliassime wasn’t only battling his opponent. He revealed that he was not physically well during the match and suggested that he felt like fainting. 

“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,” he said after the match. 

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada reacts against Karen Khachanov of Russia during their Men’s Singles Second Round match on Day Five of the 2026 US Open on Thursday, September 3, 2026. Getty Images

Auger-Aliassime described the physical issue as one that he’d never experienced before, noting he’d suffered through cramps and describing it as “abnormal.”

“There were no signs in the last couple of days and no signs this morning, as well,” he explained. “Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m going to run some tests and see what comes out of it.” 

Very little seemed to go right for Auger-Aliassime on Louis Armstrong on Thursday after he initially jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first set. 

The victory was Khachanov’s second top-10 win at a Grand Slam in his career and came four years removed from his run to the U.S. Open semifinals in 2022. 

Khachanov broke Auger-Aliassime’s serve seven times during the second-round showdown, and he managed to save seven of nine break points. 

“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.”

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada returns a shot against Karen Khachanov of Russia. Getty Images

Auger-Aliassime said that while he considered retiring during the match, he felt that if he waited long enough, he would feel better. 

“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,” Auger-Aliassime explained. 

Khachanov jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and held Auger-Aliassime at bay. He then cruised through the third and fourth sets.