Andre Agassi’s former coach
Brad Gilbert believes that there
should be a change of draw once Italy’s
Jannik Sinner decided to withdraw from
the
Paris Masters. The 23-year-old, on Tuesday, announced in a post on social
media platform X—previously known as Twitter—about withdrawing from the competition
because of fitness concerns.
“This is not an easy announcement to make,” he wrote. “My
team and I arrived early to prepare as best as possible, but unfortunately, I
started feeling unwell during training and saw the doctor on Sunday. It turns
out I’ve come down with a virus. I’m feeling better now, but I’m still not
ready to compete here in Paris. I was really looking forward to this
tournament, so it’s disappointing, to say the least. For now, I’m focusing on
recovery and getting back to 100%. I’ll be aiming to come back stronger
for Turin!”
Gilbert, in a post on his account on X, came up with an idea
that if such thing ever happens, there should be redraw even if the draw was
started. "Draw change I would definitely like to see on @atptour when a
top seed pulls out, even after draw started, in this case Sin City allowing LL
to move into 2nd rd, I would put a 9-16 seed into that 1st spot who had not
played yet, better balance for the draw @SharkoTennis,” he wrote.
This is not the first competition where Sinner decided to
with draw this year. Earlier this year, the reigning world number one decided
to withdraw from some events because of a hip injury. After Sinner’s withdrawal,
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz became the top seed in the competition. The 21-year-old,
who is already regarded as one of the best players in the world currently
playing in men’s tennis in the singles category, cemented his spot in the round
of 16 after beating Chile’s Nicholas Jarry in straight sets with a score of
7-5, 6-1. This is
