November 02, (THEWILL) – Fourth seed, Jannik Sinner, has withdrawn just before his third-round match at the Paris Masters on Thursday, blaming “fatigue” after finishing his previous match after half-past two in the morning.
The Italian started his match against American, Mackenzie McDonald, after midnight and battled to a three-set victory in two hours and 16 minutes the night before.
Sinner was due on centre court on Thursday, as the fourth match on the schedule to face 13th seeded Australian, Alex de Minaur. However, the 21-year-old pulled out, citing exhaustion from the late finish. Darren Cahill, who coaches Sinner, said on Instagram he was happy with the victory but criticised “zero care for players’ welfare with Paris scheduling”.
Eighth seed, Casper Ruud, who lost to Francisco Cerundulo on Wednesday, echoed the criticism on Thursday. “Bravo ATP Tour, way to help one of the best players recover and be ready when he finished at 2:37am, 14.5 hours to recover.. what a joke,” the Norwegian posted.
Sinner arrived in Paris from Vienna, where he won the title on Sunday in a 3+ hour final against Daniil Medvedev. The scheduling in Paris has come under fire, with players forced to compete into the early hours. Sinner is the latest to pay the price.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
