During the third round clash against Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands at the Shanghai Masters, defending champion and world number two Jannik Sinner, who hails from Italy, retired from the tournament after suffering a severe leg injury on Sunday, October 5. The 24-year-old started experiencing problems with his leg in the fourth game of the third before deciding to abandon the match while leading it 6-7(3-7), 7-5, 3-2.
The weather on the day of Jannik Sinner’s leg issue was quite a tough one with humidity spiking at nearly 90%, not allowing much breathing space to any of the players in the thick and wet air. In a viral video shared by the Tennis Letter on X, the Italian was cramping badly and visibly struggling to walk before being helped
by his physio to the courtside chair prior to his decision to retire from the contest.
Watch the video here:
After securing arguably the biggest win of his tennis career, Tallon Griekspoor talked to the ATP Tour about what it meant to him and wished Jannik Sinner recovers soon. He was quoted as saying, “This is definitely not the way you want to win. Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours and 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set… I’m sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.”
Novak Djokovic reached round four of Shanghai Masters with three set victory
Meanwhile, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic defeated Yannick Hanfmann from Germany in a three setter with the scoreline reading 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the third round. After securing the victory, the 24-time Grand Slam champion talked about the tough weather conditions for the players, which read, “It's brutal when you have over 80% of humidity day after day - particularly for the guys when they're playing during the day with heat, with sun, it's even more brutal.”
With Jannik Sinner retiring from the Shanghai Masters and Carlos Alcaraz not participating in it, Novak Djokovic has a great chance to earn silverware on the ATP Tour this week.
