The final match between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz lasted only 23 minutes, as Sinner had to retire when his opponent was leading 5-0 in the first set. After the match, Sinner admitted that he had not been feeling well since the previous day, and his condition worsened during the final.
Unable to complete the final, Sinner became the eighth player to withdraw mid-match at this year's Cincinnati Open due to health reasons. Before the Italian player, Luciano Darderi, Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Jakub Mensik, Frances Tiafoe, Karen Khachanov, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also had to abandon their matches. Arthur Rinderknech even collapsed on the court during his match against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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Sinner exhausted after retiring from the final against Alcaraz, at the Center Court in Ohio, USA on 18/8. Photo: Reuters |
Sinner exhausted after retiring from the final against Alcaraz, at the Center Court in Ohio, USA on 18/8. Photo: Reuters
One of the reasons why many players experienced health problems last week was the extreme weather conditions in Ohio, with high temperatures, humidity, and intense sunlight. Not only the players, but also many spectators in the stands felt uncomfortable, leading to interruptions in matches so that the organizers could provide medical attention to the audience.
In addition, the packed ATP Tour schedule was another factor, with the organizers scheduling the Masters 1000 tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati too close together, as both events were extended to 12 days. In Cincinnati, fans also criticized the organizers for starting the final on Monday afternoon, during the workday.
"Having the final on a Monday at 3 p.m. in August in Cincinnati, after the Toronto-Cincinnati swing, caused many retirements and countless players feeling dead tired," Davidovich Fokina said on social media. "This needs to change immediately."
In his match against Joao Fonseca, Davidovich Fokina won the first set and led 4-0 in the second set before suddenly running out of energy. Fonseca won 5 consecutive games before Davidovich Fokina retired with the score at 7-6, 4-5. At the Canadian Open, the Spanish player also had to withdraw in the third set of his match against Andrey Rublev.
These incidents related to physical fitness and the schedule made the Cincinnati Open end on a less than positive note, even though this year the organizers invested over 260 million USD to upgrade all aspects of the tournament, demonstrating their ambition to become the fifth Grand Slam in the future.
Vy Anh
