The line-up for next week’s Rotterdam Open has suffered a blow after two top 10 players pulled out of the event due to different reasons.
In a statement issued on Thursday morning by tournament organizers, it has been confirmed that world No.10 Jannik Sinner is unable to participate in the draw ‘due to Corona.’ No further details have been given about the Italian and it is not publicly known when or where he tested positive for the virus. Sinner recently reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in what was his best-ever run at the tournament.
There has been no official comment from the 20-year-old or his team about his positive test. His most recent social media post was five days ago when he paid tribute to wheelchair tennis star Dylan Alcott who has recently retired from the sport.
Another top name absent from Rotterdam is Daniil Medvedev who would have been the top seed in the tournament. The Russian has pulled out due to the short turnaround between the event and the Australian Open where he finished runner-up. Medvedev led Rafael Nadal by two sets to love in the final before the Spaniard staged a audacious comeback to win after more than five hours of play.
“We were still hopeful that Daniil Medvedev would come back to his earlier statement that he did not want to play another tournament so soon after the lost Australian Open final, but unfortunately he has not lost that feeling yet,” tournament director Richard Krajicek said in a statement.
Medvedev has played in Rotterdam four times during his career but has lost in the first round in his two most recent appearances. The world No.2 said his decision not to play this year was because he is ‘not ready’ to compete.
Filling the void left by the two players will be a duo of former champions. Andy Murray has taken a last-minute wildcard into the event which he won back in 2009. It will be Murray’s seventh appearance in Rotterdam.
“Really excited to announce I’ll be playing in Rotterdam next week at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Really grateful for the opportunity to play and have always enjoyed my time at the tournament, so I am looking forward to heading out there in the next few days!”
2017 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the other player to be awarded a wildcard to play at the ATP 500 event. The 36-year-old Frenchman is currently ranked 259th in the world after falling down the rankings due to various injury setbacks in recent months. Last year he played just nine matches on the Tour, winning one of them.
Following the changes, Stefanos Tsitsipas is set to be the top seed in the draw next week. Also competing will be Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz.
