Former world number three withdraws from the Shanghai Masters an hour before his first match

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The Shanghai Masters is officially underway, and a number of big stars have already withdrawn prior to the ATP Masters 1000 event starting.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz announced he would not feature at the tournament due to ‘physical issues’ he sustained during the Japan Open.

Laver Cup champion Joao Fonseca also pulled out of the Shanghai Masters, revealing he would miss the entirety of the Asian swing in his debut year on tour.

Now, a former world number three is the latest addition to the list, with their campaign ending an hour before their opening match.

Two-time Grand Slam finalist withdraws from Shanghai Masters

Before his second-round clash with Nuno Borges, Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the competition amid injury struggles.

The Greek star, who was about to play his first tour-level match since his disappointing US Open campaign, has been dealing with back pain, and recently visited the hospital for a ‘special type of examination, despite misleading reports that he underwent surgery.

Tsitsipas has struggled on the ATP Tour this year, bowing out of the early stages at majors and falling to as low as 30th in the world.

He was looking for a strong finish to the season, but his return to action is put on hold for now.

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ points dropped after Shanghai withdrawal

Tsitsipas was seeking to defend 100 points in Shanghai after reaching the fourth round last year.

He fell to fifth seed Daniil Medvedev in 2024, losing to the Russian 6-7, 3-6, and failed to qualify for the ATP Finals.

This season, Tsitsipas will be unable to make the year-end tournament with a current total of 1425 live points in the ‘Race to Turin’.

Now, the 27-year-old is 25th in the ATP rankings, having been inside the world’s top 15 in January.