Stefanos Tsitsipas pulls out of third tournament after banking £1.1m for one match | Tennis | Sport
Stefanos Tsitsipas has withdrawn from his next tournament just days after banking £1.1million from playing a single match. The two-time Grand Slam finalist recently featured at the Six Kings Slam, where he faced Jannik Sinner in the opening round. It was always going to be a tough match for Tsitsipas and he ended up losing in straight sets in the space of 76 minutes.
The man from Greece was paid handsomely despite being outclassed by Sinner, taking home a £1.1m appearance fee. It means he was paid approximately £14,473 for each minute he was on the court. He was scheduled to return to action at this week’s Vienna Open but decided to withdraw from the tournament just hours before his opening match.
Tsitsipas was due to play against Lorenzo Musetti and was already in Vienna, having taken part in promotional activities ahead of the tournament. However, he was unable to fulfil the match with Hamad Medjedovic stepping in to replace him on short notice.
It is not yet clear why Tsitsipas decided to pull out, but it is not the first time he has done so in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the 27-year-old was set to face Nuno Borges at the Shanghai Open but chose to withdraw on the day of the match.
He also pulled out of the China Open before travelling to Saudi Arabia for the Six Kings Slam. Tsitsipas is still expected to play in two more events before the end of the season, having signed up for the Paris Masters and Athens Open.
It has been a difficult period for Tsitsipas, who has endured a dramatic fall from grace since he was ranked third by the ATP four years ago. He now sits 25th in the rankings and faces an uphill battle to restore former glories.
Tsitsipas recently suggested that his physical condition was holding him back, saying after his defeat to Sinner: “I need a healthy body to give myself more chances to maybe rebound and be back in the top five.
“If I’m not going to be healthy, it’s going to be a very difficult task for me to be at the top of my game again. This is the truth. This is the reality. I think everyone agrees with me.
“There’s not a single person who disagrees, and that has been the biggest concern in the last couple of months. My body has not been where I want it to be. Call it chronic overtraining, overuse, or the demand of the tour, I don’t know what it is.
“I wish I had an answer, but I have played a lot of matches in my life and my body is feeling it at this very moment. I just wish I could find ways at some point that I can maybe play five to six matches in a row and not feel pain after finishing the match.
“So far, it hasn’t been the case. I feel pain after every single match that I finish, almost this year, except January to maybe March was pretty okay, I have to say, but ever since March passed, it has been a hard time.”
