"Don't know what happened, but wish you the best" - Holger Rune sends message to Stefanos Tsitsipas after ATP Finals retirement

Holger Rune wished Stefanos Tsitsipas all the best after the Greek player was forced to retire midway through their ATP Finals contest on Tuesday, November 14.

Tsitsipas, who was part of the Green Group at the year-end competition in Turin, has since withdrawn from the tournament citing a back injury.

The 25-year-old, who was trailing Rune 1-2 before he decided to retire, had lost his opening group match to Jannik Sinner. Hubert Hurkacz of Poland will take the injured player's place in the Green Group at the ATP Finals 2023.

"Don’t know what happened but wish you the best Stef," Rune wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Just 14 minutes into the match, Tsitsipas appeared to be in discomfort and walked up to his opponent to shake hands much to the dismay of the Turin crowd.

Incidentally, Stefanos Tsitsipas had also withdrawn after the first match at the 2021 edition of the ATP Finals. Back then, he lost to Andrey Rublev in straight sets before withdrawing ahead of a scheduled match against Casper Ruud.

Tsitsipas was in action at the Paris Masters earlier this month, making it to the semifinals at Bercy before going down to Grigor Dimitrov.

Holger Rune, who had earlier given Novak Djokovic a run for his money before going down 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1), 3-6 in his opening match of the ATP Finals 2023, has thus registered his first win of the competition.

Hubert Hurkacz, who has replaced Tsitsipas, will take on Novak Djokovic on Thursday. Holger Rune is making his ATP Finals debut in Turin and will face Jannik Sinner in his next match.

"I'm really gutted that I wasn't able to finish the match" - Stefanos Tsitsipas after being forced to retire against Holger Rune

Stefanos Tsitsipas being attended to during his match against Holger Rune

Stefanos Tsitsipas apologized to fans in Turin after being unable to finish his group match of the ATP Finals 2023 against Holger Rune.

The two-time singles Grand Slam finalist also revealed that he had consulted doctors prior to the tournament who had given him the "green light" to play.

“My apologies to all the fans and the crowd that came to support me today and watch the match. I'm really gutted that I wasn't able to finish the match. It's a shame also not to give that spot to someone else to at least try and do something with it," Stefanos Tsitsipas said.

"My doctors and the countless visits that I had in the past few days suggested that I play, gave me the green light to go and try it for myself," he added.

Recalling his withdrawal from the tournament back in 2021, Tsitsipas stated that it was unfortunate to have withdrawn for a second time.

“It's very unfortunate. I've had two editions here in Turin where I had to withdraw from the tournament. Never happened to me before that I had to withdraw. Very, very few occasions that I can recall on that matter," the Athens-born player said after the match.

Tsitsipas, who reached the finals of the 2021 French Open and the 2023 Australian Open, has clinched 10 career titles thus far.