'A disgrace' - Wimbledon match ends in chaos as player demands rule change

Felix Auger-Aliassime has called for a change to the medical timeout rules after "disgraceful" behaviour of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina during their Wimbledon clash.

The Canadian battled to a 6-7 (4) 7-6 (6) 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-1 victory, but was left furious after his opponent called a medical timeout as he served for the match.

Davidovich Fokina initially collapsed to the court on break point before appearing to recover quickly following a brief stoppage. He then won the next point to earn two break points before beginning to limp again and receiving treatment from the physio at courtside.

The interruption came with Auger-Aliassime serving for the match. When play resumed, he double-faulted and went on to lose the fourth set, marking the first time he had been broken throughout the tournament and forcing the contest into a deciding fifth set.

Auger-Aliassime responded emphatically, racing to a 6-1 victory in the decider, but made no secret of his frustration that his momentum had been disrupted. The pair exchanged heated words at the net after the match, with the Canadian unhappy that Davidovich Fokina had been permitted to take a medical timeout at such a pivotal moment.

"The interactions between him and I, I don't want to get into that," he said in his post-match press conference.

"If he wants to come in here and talk about it, he can. But he knows my opinion. That's one of these things that I have differences with people in my life on tour. They know what I think. That's the most important.

"Now what I can say, though, is that I think the [medical timeout] rule has to change. I think that, obviously, as long as the rule is like that, a player will use it to their advantage.

"I think that it's very simple. If you're hurt bad, or whatever you're hurt, while the game's going on of your opponent, in the middle of the game, the opponent is serving, the shot clock is on, basically when you're hurt bad, you're forfeiting every point until you can call the physio.

"If the physio helps you recover, you play your service game.

"If you're hurt bad, then you retire, obviously. But to stop in the middle of an opponent's service game, and to be able to call the physio, I think that's a disgrace of a rule.

"I don't see any other sport where you can do that. Mark my words, it's a disgrace of a rule."

Auger-Aliassime will face Novak Djokovic in Tuesday's Wimbledon quarter-finals as he continues his bid for a first Grand Slam title.

The 25-year-old has equalled his best Wimbledon run, having also reached the last eight in 2021. His deepest run at a major came with semi-final appearances at the US Open in 2021 and 2025, while he has also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and the French Open.