Taylor Fritz withdraws from another ATP tournament with very in-form player announced as his replacement

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Taylor Fritz appears to still be struggling with a fitness issue that has already seen him withdraw from multiple ATP events this year.

Fritz has been suffering with abdominal pain since February, but decided to compete at the sunshine double of Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

Despite admitting that he was not fully pain free, Fritz reached the Miami Open semi-finals for the first time in his career.

However, the world number four has not been able to push on since then, with Fritz withdrawing from the Monte Carlo Masters and now another upcoming ATP tournament.

Taylor Fritz withdraws from ATP Munich and is replaced by Jakub Mensik

Fritz was next scheduled to compete at the ATP tournament in Munich, where he reached the final last year before losing to Jan-Lennard Struff.

However, the American will not get the opportunity to improve on his runner-up finish this year, after it was announced that he had withdrawn from the Bavarian Tennis Championships.

While no explanation has been given as of yet, it is assumed that Fritz’s withdrawal is related to the ongoing abdominal injury he has been suffering with.

As a result of this, Fritz will lose 165 ranking points from reaching the final last year, and has a further 800 to defend throughout the clay court season.

Fritz is not the only person having injury struggles, with former top 10 player Hubert Hurkacz also suffering with a lower back issue.

Hurkacz, who is coached by Nicolas Massu and Ivan Lendl, has not played since Indian Wells, where he won only four games against Alex de Minaur.

As a result of these withdrawals, Fritz has been replaced by Jakub Mensik, the player who beat him in the Miami Open semi-finals and went onto win the title.

David Goffin has replaced Hubert Hurkacz, with Jaume Munar the next to step in if any more players pull out.

Who is playing at the ATP 500 tournament in Munich?

The Bavarian International Tennis Championships have been upgraded to an ATP 500 level event for the first time this year.

This is reflective in its lineup, with four top 20 ranked players featuring in Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Ugo Humbert.

Zverev, who is currently out-of-form, won back-to-back titles at the ATP tournament in Munich in 2017 and 2018.

The German is one of two former champions returning to Munich, with last year’s winner Struff looking to replicate what Zverev achieved in 2018.

Although Mensik did not make it onto the initial list of players in the main draw, he will be seeded due to his new career-high ranking of world number 23 since winning the Miami Open.

The Bavarian International Tennis Championships will get underway on Monday April 14.