WATCH: Bizarre scenes as Daniil Medvedev leaves Felix Auger-Aliassime in shock after retiring mid-match at Qatar Open
Daniil Medvedev suddenly retired mid-match from his quarterfinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2025 Qatar Open. The Russian exited the court without shaking hands with the Canadian, who was baffled by the happenings.
Medvedev has been far from his best since the middle of 2023. However, things have gone from bad to worse for the Russian who has struggled to rack up wins in hardcourt tournaments, his forte. He most recently competed at the Qatar Open where he had a positive start taking out defending champion Karen Khachanov by coming back from a set down and then decimating Zizou Bergs 6-2, 6-1.
Daniil Medvedev then faced Felix Auger-Aliassime, a player who finally found his form and has been tearing it up in 2025 with two titles. The two men, who have given tennis some exciting battles in the past, engaged in yet another thriller in the making. The Canadian took the opening set 6-3 but what later ensued completely baffled the tennis fraternity.
As the Canadian, on his bench, was resting and preparing himself for the second set, all of a sudden Medvedev went up to the chair umpire to tell him that he would be retiring due to illness. As the umpire was announcing the match's end, the Russian immediately packed his bag and exited the court without shaking his opponent's hand. These happenings left Aliassime in complete disbelief.
Here's a clip of the incident:
However, from another angle, it looks like the Russian did inform the Canadian that he was retiring.
Felix Auger-Aliassime has reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open. He kicked off his campaign with a three-set win over Quentin Halys following which he received back-to-back walkovers against Hamad Medjedovic and Daniil Medvedev. The Canadian will face Andrey Rublev next.
Meanwhile, Medvedev will look to turn things around in the upcoming Sunshine Double.
A look into Daniil Medvedev's 2025 season so far
Daniil Medvedev kicked off his 2025 at the Australian Open and had a rocky start to his campaign as he had to overturn a 1-2 deficit against Kasisdit Samrej but got the job done. He then faced the rising star Learner Tien who picked up the opening two sets. In his typical fashion, the Russian leveled the score by taking the next two sets but lost to Tien in the decider leaving the tennis world in shock.
He then made another shocking early exit in the second round of the Rotterdam Open to Mattia Bellucci and was asked about his potential retirement in the post-match press conference. The Russian then entered the Open 13 as the top seed and despite comfortably making it to the semifinals, he fell to Hamad Medjedovic in straight sets and headed to the Qatar Open next.