Stefanos Tsitsipas will play against Andrey Rublev on Monday in his opening match at the ATP Finals. The Greek sensation had to withdraw from the ATP1000 in Paris because of an elbow injury.
On Friday, during the press conference that precedes the tournament, Stefanos Tsitsipas provided some updates about his injury.
The pain was unbearable
Stefanos admitted that he was struggling a lot during the match in France. Unfortunately, it seems that the Greek sensation hasn’t fixed the issue yet despite being in the right direction.
He commented:
“In Paris, the pain was unbearable, so I had to quit from that game.
It was very painful for me to let the crowd down and not play. But I had to. It was for my safety, for my well-being, and I don’t regret doing that.
The last couple of days I’ve been practising with a little bit of pain. But recently I’m feeling much better than I did when I started five-six days ago. It’s heading towards the right direction and I’m doing everything possible to recover from it.”
Jannik Sinner
Home favorite Jannik Sinner is the first alternate. There are strong chances letter he will play at least one match given Stefanos’s conditions.
Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021
At the moment ranked no.4, Stefanos played his last match on the 3rd of November when he had to retire when playing against world no.59 Alexei Popyrin in the 2nd round and the scoreline was 4-2 .
This year Tsitsipas has managed to achieve a composed 55-18 win-loss record. Tsitsipas clinched 2 titles in 2021 in Monte-Carlo and in Lyon. Tsitsipas was the finalist in Acapulco, in Barcelona and at the French Open.
Andrey Rublev in 2021
Now the world no.5 (career-high), Andrey played his last match on the 3rd of November when he lost to world no.23 Taylor Fritz 7-5 7-6(2) in the 2nd round in Paris (draw).
Currently, during this year Rublev achieved an overall 48-20 win-loss record. Andrey clinched 1 title in Rotterdam. The Russian was the finalist in Monte-Carlo, in Halle and in Cincinnati.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev fought against each other 8 times. Their current head to head is 4-4. Previously, the last time when they squared off, Stefanos Tsitsipas won 6-3 6-3 in the final in Monte-Carlo (Monte) on the 18th of April 2021.
Here the video highlights.
