Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Tallon Griekspoor, the 27th seed, after suffering from cramps in humid conditions while trailing the Dutchman 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-2 on.
In the final weeks of a long, arduous season for all, the conditions in Shanghai have been severe this past week, particularly on Sunday as players tried to compete in 90% humidity. Many struggled badly.
Being scheduled in the night session offered little solace for Sinner, the world No 2, who was dragged into a third set by a tenacious Griekspoor. By the third set, Sinner had physically deteriorated, visibly cramping and limping badly before he had no choice but to retire.
“This is definitely not the way you want to win,†said Griekspoor. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were still a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours, 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set. Sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.â€
Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, withdrew from Shanghai before the tournament because of the ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of his title run in Tokyo earlier this week, meaning Sinnerâ€s retirement presents a great opportunity for the rest of the field, including Novak Djokovic, who edged into the round of 16 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann of Germany.
Elsewhere, Amanda Anisimova continued to put together an incredible breakthrough season as she followed up her success at the grand slam tournaments by clinching the biggest title of her career with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win over Linda Noskova in Beijing.
Anisimova has now won two WTA 1000 titles at the China Open and Qatar Open alongside reaching two grand slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open this year. Having been ranked as low as No 41 in February, she sits at No 4 in the WTA rankings and No 3 in the WTA race. She has now qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh for the first time in her career.
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Her progress over the past nine days has been particularly satisfying considering she underwent wisdom tooth surgery on the day she flew out to Beijing: “Itâ€s been quite a few weeks for me here, for sure,†she said. “I feel like Iâ€ve learned a lot about myself. I think I can take a lot of positives and look at it as a lot of progress for me just figuring out ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when it feels like I canâ€t go any further. I feel like in that sense I learned that Iâ€m stronger than I think. Thatâ€s a huge win for me.â€
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