Tsitsipas retires due to discomfort in Paris

Weakened by physical discomfort, Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from his second round match at the Paris Masters, trailing 4-2 to Australian Alexei Popirin on Wednesday.

The third seed in the Indoor Championships, he leads the ATP Tour with 55 wins this year and played his 73rd match of the season. But the Greek level declined after reaching the French Open final, who was knocked out by the third round of the US Open and the second round in Vienna last week.

“I’ve never retired before and I didn’t have a choice today,” Tsitsipas said. “I also want to be careful about the next tournament which is more important to me.”

Tsitsipas has qualified for the ATP Finals, the tournament hosting the top eight of the season, which will begin on November 14 in Turin, Italy. He declined to say what hit him on Wednesday, but touched his right arm several times during the match.

“I was right with a problem there,” Tsitsipas said. “Things have gotten worse in the past weeks, which is why I’m taking care of myself. I felt the pain during the match and all I want is to prevent it from getting worse.”

Earlier today, American Taylor Fritz raised the only break ball he faced by eliminating Russian Andrey Rublev (the fifth seed) 7-5, 7-6 (2).

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta lost in the second round to squander their slim chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals.

But Hubert Hurkacz (seeded 7) and Cameron Norrie (10) beat the American competitors and are still in the race.

Auger-Aliassime (9) lost 6-3, 7-5 to German Dominic Kupfer, while Carino Busta (12) lost 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5 to Frenchman Hugo Gaston.

Poland’s Hurkacz beat Tommy Ball 7-5, 7-6 (4), while Britain’s Nuri beat Riley Opelka 6-3, 6-4.

Also on Wednesday, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (16th place) returned to defeat Russia’s Karen Khachanov, the 2018 champion in Paris 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.