‘A mess!’ – Wimbledon match gets crazy as player asks for new rule
Felix Auger-Aliassime has spoken out about changing the medical timeout rules after what he called “disgraceful” behavior from Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during their Wimbledon match.
The Canadian won a tough battle 6-7 (4) 7-6 (6) 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-1 but was very upset when Davidovich Fokina called a medical timeout while Felix was serving for the match.
At one point, Davidovich Fokina collapsed on the court during a break point, looked okay after a short pause, then won the next point. However, he started limping again and got treatment from the physio right there on the court.
This break happened when Felix was about to finish the match. After the timeout, Felix double-faulted and ended up losing the fourth set, which was the first time he had been broken all tournament. That pushed the match to a deciding fifth set.
Felix came back strong, winning the final set 6-1, but he made it clear he was frustrated that his momentum was interrupted. After the match, the two players exchanged some heated words, with Felix unhappy that the medical timeout was allowed at such a critical moment.
In his post-match interview, Felix said, “I don’t want to go into the details of what was said between us. If he wants to talk, he knows how I feel. There are people on tour I disagree with, and they know where I stand. That’s what matters.”
He added, “I really think the medical timeout rule needs to change. As long as it stays the same, players will use it to their advantage. Here’s how it should be: if you’re hurt badly during your opponent’s serve, you lose every point until you call the physio. Then, if the physio helps you, you play your service game. If you’re too hurt, you retire. But stopping the game during an opponent’s serve to get physio help isn’t fair. I don’t see any other sport where that happens. Honestly, it’s a bad rule.”
Felix will play Novak Djokovic in Tuesday’s Wimbledon quarter-finals as he aims for his first Grand Slam title.
At 25 years old, he’s matched his best Wimbledon run by reaching the last eight, also done in 2021. His best results at majors include semi-finals at the US Open in 2021 and 2025 and quarter-finals at both the Australian Open and the French Open.