Open 13 Provence Marseille organisers receive heavy criticism for choice of announcement for Jannik Sinner withdrawal

The organization of the Open 13 Provence Marseille is under criticism following a controversial withdrawal announcement by Jannik Sinner. The official Twitter account posted a message with a less-than-benevolent tone, stating "Sinner snubs Open 13 Provence" in French, accompanied by a shocked emoji.

Typically, when tournaments announce player withdrawals, they express good wishes to the player for their upcoming challenges and express regret for not having them participate. However, the ATP 250 Open 13 Provence opted for a post quite different from the usual approach when announcing the withdrawal of the Italian, who withdrew from the tournament for the second consecutive year.

Several fans criticized the harsh tone used by the Marseille Open, which will take place between February 4th and 11th, in announcing the withdrawal of the recent champion of the 2024 Australian Open in a less-than-flattering manner. The same tweet mentions that the tournament is negotiating with Alexander Zverev to be part of the main draw of the event.

Following his outstanding campaign in Melbourne, the Italian has decided to take an additional week off from competition beyond what was initially planned. Currently, he remains entered in the ATP 500 Rotterdam Open, where he will be the second seed, scheduled to take place from February 12th to 18th.

Sinner secured his first Grand Slam title on Sunday, January 30th, after coming back from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev, ultimately claiming a marathon victory with a score of 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. In Rotterdam, he will defend the points from last year's final, where he was defeated against Medvedev (5-7, 6-2, 6-2).

The Italian will also arrive with the confidence of having won 8 of his last matches against top-3 players and being the first Italian Grand Slam champion since Adriano Panatta in the 1976 French Open. Sinner, at 22 years old, is also the youngest man to win the Australian Open since Novak Djokovic in 2008 at the age of 20.