Holger Rune, trained by Boris Becker, achieved his first victory in an unusual way at the ATP Finals in Turin. Rune’s opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas had to retire due to an injury in the first set when the score was 1:2.
After just a quarter of an hour, the game at the Pala Alpitour was already over, and the spectators whistled to acknowledge the Greek’s quick surrender.
“Of course I didn’t want to win the game that way,” said Rune after the game. “But you noticed from your first serve game that something was wrong,” said the Dane.
Hurkacz replaces Tsitsipas
After giving up, Tsitsipas said he had “terrible pain” in his back. “I’m sorry for the spectators, but it just didn’t work anymore,” said the Greek, who will no longer play in his last group game against the Serb Novak Djokovic on Thursday. The Pole Hubert Hurkacz is replacing him, but has no further chance of progressing.
After his first game on Sunday, when he lost in two sets against the Italian Jannik Sinner, Tsitsipas said he was fit and had no problems. In the run-up to the ATP finals, there had already been speculation about Tsitsipas’ health.
