"I've gone through pain in the past, but this was too much to handle" - Stefanos Tsitsipas explains withdrawing against Holger Rune at ATP Finals

World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas has said that intolerable pain forced him to call it quits three games into his ATP Finals clash with the eighth-ranked Holger Rune on Tuesday (November 14).

Tsitsipas lost his opener to fourth seed Jannik Sinner on Sunday (November 12) and he will be eliminated if World No. 1 Novak Djokovic beats the home favorite later on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Rune - who lost to Djokovic on his ATP Finals debut - improves to 1-1 at the year-end event.

15 minutes into their clash at the Pala Alpitour in Turin - with Tsitsipas trailing 2-1 - the Greek could continue no more. In his post-match press conference, the 2019 champion said that he was struggling with his movement on match eve due to back pain.

"I practiced the last few days. I didn't spend a lot of time on the court. I had a little bit of trouble with my movement. It's mainly affected when I move. It's difficult to compete in the match without having to move. This is tennis. This is not darts," Stefanos Tsitsipas said.

He continued:

"For me, it's important to be fit and feel good with my back. The pain was very big. I've gone through pain during matches in the past, and I endured pain, but this was clearly too much to handle. I had to take the difficult decision to do what I did."

Tsitsipas said that he felt discomfort while serving during the warm-up, forcing him to prematurely retire from the contest:

"I felt it at the second game of the match. I actually felt it in the warm-up with my serve. Warming up on my serve, I felt very irritated and lots of pain hitting me on my back. I kind of knew at that time that I might not be able to go all the way."

With the Greek unlikely to play his last round-robin match at the ATP Finals, he's set to end his season with a 51-25 record.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas blames lack of rest and other factors for retiring against Holger Rune

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas put together a solid - if not spectacular 2023 season - winning over 50 matches. He made deep runs at multiple Grand Slam tournaments and ATP Masters 1000 events.

Tsitsipas reached the second week at three of the four Majors and made the last four in the Italian Open and Paris Masters. However, he said that a lack of rest and optimum preparation forced him to retire against Rune:

"The tour is very demanding. ... I do believe it's because of the maybe lack of rest, lack of getting my body to rest sometimes and properly prepare for big events. I am hunting a lot. I'm trying to get as much as possible regarding points, regarding the rankings. I really push myself to the limits."

"I do believe it's maybe a combination of lack of rest and not that good of a preparation. Overload, as well. Could be that, as well," he added.

Stefanos Tsitsipas - whose only title of the year came at Los Cabos - is set to end the year in the top six unless Holger Rune or Alexander Zverev win the title.