Former world number one Jim Courier has defended Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas for his decision to withdraw from the ATP Finals because of an injury. The 25-year-old withdrew from the competition during the second group match against Denmark’s Holger Rune because of an injury.
Following that, Tsitsipas received some criticism from the fans on social media, largely because his departure disrupted what would’ve been an extremely competitive group which also included the likes of world number one Novak Djokovic and Italy’s Jannik Sinner.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Courier was recently quoted in a report where he defended Tsitsipas for his decision to withdraw from the competition, citing fitness concerns.
"Tsitsipas is a very thoughtful guy, and he is not an overly selfish guy when it comes to it," he said. "He understands the big picture. He wouldn't want to do that to the tournament, but it's what happened.”
The 53-year-old also went on to suggest that the slow surface in Turin might have aggravated Tsitsipas’ injury.
"I mean, you've got to give it a shot in your heart if you think you can go out there and finish the match,” he said. “But with the back thing, too, on this really quick, low-bouncing core, it's very demanding on the body. Your reaction time has to be even quicker, and that just puts your body at peril, as we can see.”
1|2 - Stefanos Tsitsipas is the 1st player to defeat two former Grand Slam champions in the 1st and 2nd Round of a Grand Slam since Nikolay Davydenko at the Roland Garros 2008, and the first in Wimbledon since Dick Norman in 1995 (Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg). Roar. #Wimbledon
