Injury Wave Hits the ATP Fall Swing as Rune, Auger-Aliassime and Ruud Withdraw

The final fortnight of the ATP's European indoor swing has been rocked by a wave of withdrawals, with Holger Rune, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Casper Ruud all pulling out of tournaments in Brussels and Basel within the same 24-hour window. Three of the fall season's biggest names are suddenly racing the clock instead of their rivals, and the draw sheets — along with the Race to Turin — look very different than they did a week ago.

Rune's back rules him out of Brussels

Holger Rune has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels with a minor back issue, cutting short what was supposed to be a crucial week of match play as he continues his comeback from an eleven-month Achilles layoff.

Scans confirmed the problem is minor, and Rune's team ordered two to three days of complete rest. The Dane now faces a choice between the Vienna Open and the Swiss Indoors in Basel next week for his return to competition — a decision he is expected to make once the rest period is over.

The timing clearly frustrated the 23-year-old, who described the setback as "really annoying" after finally getting his body back on a match court. Set against an eleven-month Achilles layoff, a surgical repair, and a rehab process that cost him four Grand Slam appearances, a minor back problem is a speed bump rather than a wall — but for a player desperate for matches, any interruption feels significant right now.

Collignon, who was set to face Rune in Brussels, advances without playing his scheduled opponent, and Belgian fans were left disappointed by the late withdrawal of one of the event's marquee names.

Auger-Aliassime takes two weeks off with knee injury

The biggest blow to the European events is the loss of world No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who has withdrawn from both Brussels and Basel after injuring his knee during his round-of-16 match against Casper Ruud at the Shanghai Masters.

The Canadian announced the decision in an Instagram post on Sunday: "After injuring my knee during my match in Shanghai earlier this week, my team and I have decided that I'll take the next two weeks off from competition," he wrote. "Unfortunately, this means withdrawing from Brussels and Basel, two tournaments I've won and really enjoyed playing in the past. Now the focus shifts to recovery and working hard to get back to competing as soon as possible. Thank you all for your continued support."

For a player fighting for a place at the ATP Finals in Turin, surrendering two full weeks of competition this late in the season is a significant sacrifice. But Auger-Aliassime's camp has clearly prioritized arriving in Paris healthy for the final Masters 1000 of the year over chasing points on a damaged knee.

Brussels reshuffled as Fils inherits the favorite's tag

Casper Ruud has also withdrawn from Brussels, compounding the tournament's problems. The Norwegian was clearly not at his physical best during his quarterfinal in Shanghai, but his camp has not confirmed a reason for the withdrawal.

With Rune, Auger-Aliassime and Ruud all gone, Arthur Fils has emerged as the clear favorite in Brussels. The Frenchman is now the tournament's top seed and has a genuine chance to clinch a third title of the season in front of a home crowd.

Sinner holds No. 1 as Djokovic slides to No. 12

The withdrawals land at a delicate moment in the season. Jannik Sinner, who has called an early end to his season with a knee injury, still holds the world No. 1 ranking on 10,950 points in the October 19 ATP rankings — a position he keeps only because Alexander Zverev lost in the Shanghai semifinals.

The Italian will shed 500 ranking points from last year's Vienna title next week and another 1,000 from his 2025 Paris Masters crown on November 2, which means Zverev needs at least a semifinal in Vienna to be certain of taking the top spot on November 2. The change at the top is certain — it has just been postponed.

Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, has dropped out of the world's top 10 entirely and now sits at No. 12. The 39-year-old has responded by accepting a late wildcard into the ATP 500 event in Basel, gambling that a deep run in Switzerland can drag him back into the Race to Turin.

Sinner's season-ending injury has a silver lining for the chasing pack: with one qualifier removed, the cutoff for Turin effectively drops from eighth to ninth, which keeps Djokovic's championship hopes alive if he can stack points across Basel, Vienna and Paris. Flavio Cobolli, meanwhile, matched his career-best ranking of No. 6 this week.

The road to Turin runs through Paris

Brussels runs this week alongside the ATP 500s in Vienna and Basel, and then the season funnels into the Paris Masters — the final Masters 1000 of the year — after which the Turin field is frozen.

With three contenders already sidelined, Djokovic gambling on a Basel wildcard and Sinner's absence rewriting the qualification math, the final act of the 2026 season promises a hectic scramble for the last tickets to Italy. Every match from here on carries season-defining weight.