Jannik Sinner-Conqueror Tallon Griekspoor Calls Tennis ‘Crappy Sport’ After Losing to Lower-Ranked Player in Shanghai
World No.2 Jannik Sinner will next be playing the Vienna Open, which he skipped last year.
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Tallon Griekspoor, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/The Tennis Letter, Jannik Sinner HQ)
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Jannik Sinner struggled to play during his Shanghai Masters third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor. Sinner somehow won the first set and lost the next.
After trailing 2-3 in the third set, Sinner decided to give a walkover to the Dutchman, ending his title defense in a disappointing fashion. Griekspoor next faced qualifier Valentin Vacherot, who came from a set down to knock out the 27th seed. Griekspoor, during his interview with Ziggo Sport later, said anything can happen in a sport like tennis.
I played a good match against the world number two two days ago. Today I lost to the world number 204. That’s tennis summed up in two days. It just goes to show I’ve chosen a crappy sport. I’ll probably want to play tennis again tomorrow, but for now, I’m done with it. I would rather have lost in the first round than this match.
Griekspoor now trails 1-3 in the head-to-head matchups against the World No.2, whose opportunity to reclaim his No.1 ranking from arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz looks slim, given that the Spaniard now has more than 1000-point lead in the live rankings. The six-time Grand Slam champion lost 200 points by skipping the Shanghai Masters due to an ankle injury that he suffered during the Japan Open.
Vacherot, who now holds a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head matchups against Griekspoor, has knocked out three seeded players. His next opponent is 10th seed Holger Rune, who overcame big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to reach the quarterfinals in Shanghai for the first time. For Griekspoor, another opportunity to clinch his career’s first singles title has ended. Vacherot is chasing his career’s first title in Shanghai.
Paolo Bertolucci comments on the tennis calendar after Jannik Sinner’s Shanghai Masters retirement
Former World No.12 Paolo Bertolucci urged the players to skip tournaments so as not to succumb to injuries and form issues due to the packed 11-month calendar that includes many mandatory tournaments. Bertolucci thinks Jannik Sinner has to feature in tournaments to make up for the three months he stayed on the sidelines due to his doping ban.
It’s the others who have to stop. Today, we seek spectacle at all costs, but it’s possible not to find it. Tennis players should give up. They grumble, they protest, but then they sign up for tournaments. And they even put on exhibitions. And they take the prize money. They don’t give up anything. The calendar is packed; there are fifty weeks of play a year, but tennis players don’t have to participate in every tournament; they’re not forced to.
Paolo Bertolucci said during an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica
Sinner is next scheduled to play the Vienna Open, which starts on October 20. The four-time Grand Slam champion clinched the title in 2023 by beating Daniil Medvedev, but skipped it last year.
As per an ATP rule, players have to feature in at least four ATP 500 tournaments, including one after the US Open in a season. Sinner so far has played just two ATP 500 tournaments: the Halle Open, where he lost to eventual winner Alexander Bublik, and the China Open, which he won by breezing past Learner Tien.
It’s uncertain whether the 24-year-old would feature at the Paris Masters, which he skipped last year. He has so far made three appearances in the indoor hard-court event in Paris and never progressed beyond the third round.
The South Tyrol native has won three titles this year, including the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He played every final of the Grand Slam events this year, becoming the youngest man in the Open Era to do so.
Also read: Alexander Zverev Makes Explosive Statements About his Form and Health After Shanghai Exit
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