The Greek doesn’t make it and after three games in the match against Rune he abandons the tournament. On Thursday against Djokovic he will be replaced by Hurkacz
– Turin
The first match of the second day of the Green Group between Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas lasts 17 minutes: the Greek in fact he retires amidst the boos at 2-1 for Rune (without a break), confirming the rumors from the day before that he was suffering from back pain and for which he had undergone an x-ray on Saturday, on the eve of his debut with Sinner. Beyond the disappointment of the public, who found themselves practically without the afternoon singles match perhaps with a ticket paid for hundreds of euros and for whom the hastily put together exhibition between the two reserves Hurkacz and Fritz certainly cannot be enough ( evidently forewarned), the Greek’s behavior is questionable to say the least, even if it was rightly his right to try: in this way he prevents Hurkacz, his substitute (who will be Djokovic’s opponent in the last match of the group, Thursday), from playing a place in the semi-finals, decisively altering the fate of the group.
With this result, Rune remains in the running for qualification. Sinner qualifies by beating Djokovic in straight sets tonight and Djokovic qualifies if he wins with Sinner on every score. If the Italian doesn’t win in straight sets tonight, he will then have to beat Rune to advance in the tournament. Having retired after two matches, the Greek still pockets 244,125 dollars.