(Turin) Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the ATP Finals due to a back injury after playing only three games on Tuesday, in his second match of the preliminary phase, conceding victory to Holger Rune.
Tsitsipas, the 2019 tournament champion, was trailing 2-1 in the first set when he had a lengthy conversation with his sports physiotherapist. With the latter’s help, he slowly got up from the bench he was sitting on, nodded and walked towards Rune to shake his hand.
The match was only 17 minutes old and the outcome led to boos from the spectators in Turin, who instead had to settle for an exhibition duel between reserves Taylor Fritz of the United States, and Hubert Hurkacz, from Poland.
“My apologies to all the spectators and the crowd who came to support me today and who attended the match. I am deeply disappointed that I was not able to complete the match, Tsitsipas said. My doctors and the numerous visits I had made over the past few days had given me the green light to come forward and try.
“Unfortunately, I felt really bad on the court. […] I hate withdrawing from matches. I’m not the type of person who likes to quit during a match, and it’s killing me not to be able to complete this tournament, the one I’ve been preparing for for so long, for which I’ve made sure I’m in good shape. full health to play my best and show my abilities as a player. »
Tsitsipas, who lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jannik Sinner on Sunday, interrupted a training session on Friday due to what appeared to be a physical problem. However, the Greek tennis player said he was doing “absolutely well”.
Hurkacz will replace Tsitsipas and will face world number one Novak Djokovic on Thursday.
Rune lost his first match 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-3 against Djokovic, but the Dane currently leads the Green group. Djokovic is due to face Sinner later today.
“For sure (I didn’t want to win that way). “It’s unfortunate,” Rune said. You could see him in his first service game; it wasn’t totally comfortable.
“There was definitely something going on and he requested the intervention of a sports physiotherapist that I knew. It’s a long season, I wish him all the best. »
Tsitsipas also withdrew from the tournament in 2021, after losing his first match.
“It’s very unfortunate. I had two editions here in Turin where I had to withdraw from the tournament,” Tsitsipas recalled. “This has never happened to me before. I remember very few occasions in this regard.
“It hurts me a lot because this is the tournament that means the most to me, including the Grand Slam tournaments. I am not able to compete as I would like. »