Casper Ruud has shared his thoughts after Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to retire during the pair’s fourth round match at the 2026 Shanghai Masters.

World No 6 Auger-Aliassime retired when serving at 2-5, 15-15 in the first set after he appeared to hurt his knee in the third game of the match.

Ruud held a 3-5 head-to-head record against Auger-Aliassime prior to this encounter, having lost his previous four matches against the Canadian.

The 27-year-old Norwegian is through to his first Shanghai Masters quarter-final, and he has now reached the last eight at all nine Masters 1000 events.

The world No 24 will face 13th-ranked Spanish star Rafael Jodar in the quarter-finals.

Here is everything Ruud said in his post-match press conference.

Q. You played with Felix many times, big wins and big losses. How do you think about today’s match?

RUUD: Honestly, I mean, there’s not that much to say. It was very unfortunate for him. It seemed to me that he maybe twisted his knee in the fourth game of the match. He came to the net, and I kind of, I didn’t see it a hundred percent because I’m focusing on the ball, but it looked like he kind of stumbled a bit with a wrong step. From that moment, it seemed like he was in a lot of pain, which is very unfortunate.

I’m very sorry for him, because it’s a big match for both of us. I know what kind of player he is, what kind of person he is; very nice person, so you don’t wish this for anybody. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

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Q. You have Rafael Jodar next. How would you approach a match with a player you never had the experience of playing against before?

RUUD: We are both in the same situation, I didn’t play him, he didn’t play me, so we don’t really know. But we will both do our best to come out on top. I’m sure it will be a good match if we both play well. We were just teammates in the Laver Cup team, so we had some practices together. He’s a very nice kid, or nice young guy, one of the younger guys on tour. The year he’s had has been unbelievable to watch from the outside, and now I have a chance to play him, so I’m excited.

Q. What does it say about him that he’s been able to get over 40 wins in essentially his first full year on tour?

RUUD: Yeah, it’s really impressive what Rafa has done. I mean, I think he, together with his father, have a great mindset. The fact that they chose to go to college, I think one year, I think that probably taught him a lot about matches, playing matches, feeling pressure in many matches that he played, when you play for a team and for your school.

I think that was smart from them to do one year of college to gain a lot of experience. Look, he came out after the year being top 20, top 15 in the world already, and beating a lot of the top players. So, he’s had a very good, many good calls so far in his career, and I’m sure he will just get better and better. So, I mean, he will be a problem for many players in the future, and I hope I can be on the better end on Friday. He will probably feel the same, and hope that he’s the one on the better end. It will be a great match.

Q. You said you haven’t played him before, but you’ve seen his game. What are you expecting to face?

RUUD: No, I mean, he plays also fearless, you know, big shots, playing well from the baseline. I practised with him once or twice before, so we have a little feeling of each other’s game. He has most likely watched me more than I watched him over the last years, but I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him. He probably has a little bit better of an idea of what kind of player I am than what he is to me. So, let’s see, I will have to do some good scouting, and be ready for a really tough match against a young great player.

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