Stefanos Tsitsipas has suggested that the demanding Tour calendar has played a part in an injury issue that forced him to withdraw from his match against Holger Rune at the ATP Finals.
Tsitsipas, who won the tournament back in 2019, only managed to play three games against the Dane before being forced to retire due to a back problem. It is the first time the Greek has retired from a match since the 2019 Zhuhai Open in China. In recent days there have been rumours circulating about his current fitness but on Sunday he dismissed those concerns.
“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,” Tsitsipas said during his press conference.
“My doctors and the countless visits that I had (to see them) in the last few days suggested that I play and 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.”
The 25-year-old had recently been seen ending his training sessions early at the ATP Finals and now confirms that his decision to do so was due to back pain. He describes the pain as something that was ‘too much to handle’ and it is only something he experiences when moving around.
As for his decision to try and play Rune instead of withdrawing from the tournament, Tsitsipas says it wasn’t until the warm-up that he felt that he would not be able to finish the match.
“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.” He stated.
“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.”
During the Greek-speaking part of his press conference, Tsitsipas told journalist Vicky Georgatou that he has edema in his back and the pain started during the Shanghai Masters. Edema is swelling caused by too much fluid trapped between the body’s tissues. When asked on November 12th by another journalist if rumors that he underwent some form of scan on his back, he gave a puzzling reply by saying ‘No, not that I’m aware of.’
As for where the injury came from, he has linked it to not getting enough rest due to the Tour schedule.
“I do believe it’s because of the maybe lack of rest, lack of getting my body to rest sometimes and properly prepare for big events. I am hunting a lot. I’m trying to get as much as possible regarding points, regarding the rankings. I really push myself to the limits.” The world No.6 commented.
“I do believe it’s maybe a combination of lack of rest and not that good of a preparation. Overload, as well. Could be that, as well.”
It is not the first time Tsitsipas has been forced to pull out of the season-ending event due to injury. In 2021 he only managed to play one match in the Group stages before calling it quits due to an elbow injury.
“It definitely hurts me a lot because this is the tournament that means the most to me, including the Grand Slams. I’m not able to compete the way I want to compete.” He concluded.
Tsitsipas will be replaced in the draw by Hubert Hurkacz.
