Stefanos Tsitsipas retires at ATP Finals because of injury

Stefanos Tsitsipas retired due to injury after just three games in his second match at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, giving Holger Rune the win.

Trailing 2-1 in the opening set, Tsitsipas engaged in a lengthy conversation with his trainer before reluctantly conceding the match to Rune, resulting in boos from the crowd in Turin.

Following Tsitsipas’ unfortunate exit, the audience had to settle for an exhibition match between alternates Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz.

Despite his earlier assurance of being “absolutely fine,” Tsitsipas, who lost to Jannik Sinner in his previous match, had to cut short a practice session due to a physical issue.

Rune, who also suffered a defeat in his opening match against Novak Djokovic, now leads the green group ahead of Djokovic’s upcoming match against Sinner.

“For sure [not the way I wanted to win]. It is very unfortunate,” Rune said. “You could see in the first service game, he was not serving as full as he can. For sure, something was up and when he called the physio I knew. It’s a long season, I wish him all the best.”

This isn’t the first time Tsitsipas has withdrawn from the tournament, as he also exited in 2021 after losing his opening match.