(Football news) The sixth-seeded Greek, who took home the year-end titles in 2019, lost in straight sets against Jannik Sinner in his first match in the Green group. On Tuesday, he will play Holger Rune.
Tsitsipas was forced to retire with the Dane leading 2-1 in the opening set, and he later disclosed that he had initially felt back pain during the warm-up and was afraid he wouldn’t be able to play any further.
“For me, it’s important to be fit and feel good with my back. The pain was very big,” Tsitsipas told the media. “I’ve gone through pain during matches in the past, and I endured pain, but this was clearly too much to handle. I had to take the difficult decision to do what I did.
“I felt it at the second game of the match. I actually felt it in the warm-up with my serve. Warming up on my serve, I felt very irritated and lots of pain hitting me on my back. I kind of knew at that time that I might not be able to go all the way.
“My apologies to all the fans and the crowd that came to support me today and watch the match. I’m really gutted that I wasn’t able to finish the match. It’s a shame also not to give that spot to someone else to at least try and do something with it.
“My doctors and the countless visits that I had in the past few days suggested that I play, gave me the green light to go and try it for myself. Unfortunately, I felt terrible on the court. I did what I could do in the best possible way to be ready and fit for this match, but it didn’t work out for me.
“I hate retiring from matches. I’m not the kind of person that likes leaving mid match. It kills me not to be able to finish this tournament, the one that I’ve prepped for for so long, made sure that I’m completely fit to perform at my best and show my capacities as a player.”
Rune moved to the top of the Green group standings ahead of Tuesday’s match between Novak Djokovic and Sinner after Tsitsipas was eliminated from the ATP Finals. Rune’s maiden year-end championship triumph came in a straight-sets fashion.
After the Greek left the court, Hubert Hurkacz and Taylor Fritz, who were alternates, faced off in a one-set exhibition match. The Pole won six games to three.
Hurkacz will face the reigning champion Djokovic in Thursday’s round-robin match, his first participation at the ATP Finals since he lost all three of his group matches in 2021. Hurkacz has now replaced Tsitsipas in the Green group.
Also read: Stefanos Tsitsipas will play Holger Rune in ATP Finals
