Auger-Aliassime into Madrid Open semis without playing after Sinner exits with hip injury

Felix Auger-Aliassime has caught another break due to opponent injury, advancing to the semifinals at the Madrid Open.

Top seed Jannik Sinner of Italy has withdrawn with a hip injury, tournament organizers announced Wednesday.

Sinner and Montreal's Auger-Aliassime, who downed fifth seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday, were scheduled to meet in Thursday's quarterfinals. The Canadian advances to the semifinals on Friday against third seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia or 30th seed Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.

Sinner recovered from dropping Tuesday's first set to beat 16th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

"Very sad to have to withdraw from my next match here in Madrid," Sinner wrote on social media. "My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly been getting more painful. Taking the advice from the doctors we decided it's best to not play further and make it worse."

Auger-Aliassime, 23, has won both his previous matches against Sinner, including a Round of 16 matchup in Madrid in 2022.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime beats Ruud, advancing to Madrid quarterfinals:

On Monday, Auger-Aliassime gained a quarterfinal berth in a walkover after Czech opponent Jakub Menšík retired from their match with the former leading 6-1, 1-0.

Jakub Menšík retired with a right elbow injury in the second round at a recent tournament in Dubai, and had tape on his right arm between sets Monday.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime posts Monday walkover win against Czech Menšík :

Earlier this month, Auger-Aliassime was lined up to play two-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco but Alcaraz pulled out of the tourney with muscle injury to his right