Fourth seed Jannik Sinner withdraws with fatigue and Novak Djokovic progresses

Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Paris Masters due to fatigue.

Sinner emerged victorious against American Mackenzie McDonald in the second round, but the match didn’t start until past midnight and ended at 02:37 local time on Thursday.

The 22-year-old was supposed to face Australian Alex de Minaur in the third round later in the day.

In the meantime, world number one Novak Djokovic struggled to secure a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 win against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

The Serbian player appeared out of form and had to come from behind to secure the victory. He will now face Danish sixth seed Holger Rune in the quarter-finals.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Sinner fought back from losing the first-set tie-break to defeat McDonald with a score of 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-1. However, he decided not to play again just 14 hours later.

“I regret to inform you that I am withdrawing from today’s match in Bercy,” stated Sinner on X.

“I finished the match close to three in the morning and only managed a few hours of sleep. I had less than 12 hours to rest and prepare for the next game.

“I need to prioritize my health and well-being.”

On Tuesday, Dominic Thiem defeated Stan Wawrinka at 02:22 local time, a finishing time that has unfortunately become quite common in tennis.

‘He should not have had to choose’

Russell Fuller, BBC Sport analysis

Sinner explained that he withdrew to prioritize his health and well-being. He highlighted that after completing his post-match routine early in the morning, he had less than 12 hours to rest and prepare for his next match.

He still has two significant tournaments to participate in: the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, in 10 days’ time, followed by the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga with a promising Italian team.

However, he should not have been put in a position where he had to make a choice.

Both the ATP and the WTA Tour are currently exploring ways to address the recent trend of excessively late finishing times. However, it’s challenging for them to dictate terms to tournament owners and promoters.

While some tournaments have reduced the number of matches on show courts, Paris continues to squeeze in four singles matches during the 11 am day session and two more during a night session that often starts later than the scheduled 7:30 pm.

Djokovic survives second-round scare

Djokovic’s quest for a record-breaking seventh Paris Masters title remains on track, but the 36-year-old had a challenging victory against world number 23 Griekspoor.

The 24-time major champion took an early 4-1 lead in the first set but struggled through the next four games as Griekspoor capitalized on Djokovic’s difficulties to take the set.

A visibly tired Djokovic called for a medical timeout. In the second set, he focused on dominating points from the baseline to reduce his movement. He saved break points in the ninth game and forced a decider with a dominant tie-break victory.

Griekspoor had an excellent opportunity to defeat Djokovic, who was visibly uncomfortable, but failed to seize the moment.

After sarcastically clapping at the crowd for favoring his opponent, Djokovic used their boos as motivation to win eight consecutive points without reply, securing the victory.

In another match, Rune quickly defeated Daniel Altmaier, winning 6-3 6-3 in just one hour and 20 minutes, setting up the quarter-final match against Djokovic.

With Sinner out, De Minaur will face Russian Andrey Rublev in the quarter-final after the fifth seed defeated Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp 6-3 6-3 and secured a spot in the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.

Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached the semi-finals in Paris last year, will face Russian 16th seed Karen Khachanov. Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov comfortably beat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 6-2 6-2 and will now face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.