Latest news with #ValentinRoyer
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stefanos Tsitsipas retires injured in Wimbledon first round
Stefanos Tsitsipas retired with a back injury to exit Wimbledon in the first round, abandoning his match against French qualifier Valentin Royer. The 113th-ranked Royer was two sets up against Tsitsipas, a former grand slam finalist at the Australian and French Open, when he decided to abandon. Advertisement The Greek took a medical timeout at 4-1 down in the first set, having lost the first 6-3, and received treatment for his back on-court. He was reportedly heard saying 'It's impossible to play tennis like this' as he managed the pain. The 24th seed continued to play after the timeout but after losing the second set 6-2 opted to retire. The Greek player has recently acquired the help of highly-experienced coach Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001. The Croatian enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Novak Djokovic over nine Grand Slam titles between 2019 and 2024, as well as helping Marin Cilic to his only major victory at the 2014 US Open. Advertisement Tsitsipas had said that Ivanisevic could 'definitely give me a clear direction of where I'm lacking and where I should be focusing on when it comes to my strengths,' but a premature end to his time at Wimbledon has hit his progress. Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas reacts during his first round match against France's Valentin Royer (REUTERS) Preparation had gone smoothly for Tsitsipas, despite defeat to Alex Michelsen in the second round of the ATP 500 in Halle. The 26-year-old regrouped to feature in two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club last week, beating Frances Tiafoe 7-6(9), 6-7(4), 10-7 before defeat to Tomas Martin Etcheverry 4-6, 6-2, 5-10. But the back injury flared up against Royer and has scuppered hopes of bouncing back after falling down the rankings to sit 26th entering SW19. Advertisement He is the second high-profile retirement of Monday's opening day of play so far, after Ons Jabeur retired having trailed 7-6 (5), 2-0 to Bulgarian world No 111 Viktoriya Tomova when she was forced to pull out. Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece receives treatment during his first round men's single match against Valentine Royer (AP) The Tunisian, a crowd favourite at Wimbledon - where she is a two-time runner-up - was in tears before receiving treatment during a long medical timeout in the first set. The former world No 2 had looked uncomfortable in fiercely hot conditions out on Court 14 and suffers from asthma, while also enduring breathing difficulties at this year's Australian Open. Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas looks dejected after losing his first round match by walkover (REUTERS) She is unlikely to be the only player struggling in the heat, with temperatures expected to reach 34C at Wimbledon, forcing the All England Club to institute its warm-weather policy. This comes into effect when temperatures exceed 30.1C and means an extra 10-minute break between sets two and three in women's singles and three and four in men's singles. Several seeds have already fallen: ninth seed Daniil Medvedev is the highest-ranked casualty, falling in four sets to Benjamin Bonzi, while Latvin 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko lost a three-set tussle with British No 3 Sonay Kartal.
Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Ex-world No.3 has bleak outlook after Wimbledon loss – ‘Life becomes miserable'
Stefanos Tsitsipas was forced to retire from his first-round match against Valentin Royer at Wimbledon due to a back injury - and he was downbeat when speaking afterwards An emotional Stefanos Tsitsipas opened up on his fitness struggles after retiring from his opening-round match at Wimbledon. The 24th seed was forced to abandon his match after losing the opening two sets against French qualifier Valentin Royer. Tsitsipas took a medical timeout at 4-1 down in the second set, having lost the first 6-3. He received treatment for his back on-court but decided to give up after surrendering the second set 6-2. The Greek player is a former Grand Slam finalist at the Australian Open and French Open but has dropped down the rankings due to injury troubles. He has joined up with coach Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001 and previously helped Novak Djokovic to nine Grand Slam titles between 2019 and 2024. But a back problem derailed his chances at the first hurdle at Wimbledon, prompting an emotional press conference. 'It's tough to describe. I mean, I'm battling many wars these days. It's really painful to see myself in a situation like this,' he said. 'One thing that I absolutely hate doing is retiring or stopping a match, but I've never pictured myself being in a situation like this multiple times since the ATP Finals in Turin a couple of years back. 'Since that time, I've been very fragile with my body, and I've been battling a war of feeling healthy and feeling comfortable going to the extremes, which has been a difficult battle. So I really don't know. 'I mean, I feel completely… I feel like I'm left without answers. I don't know. I've tried everything. I've done an incredible job with my fitness. I've done an incredible job with my physiotherapy, so I've maximized everything that I possibly can do. Right now I'm just absolutely left with no answers. I don't know what to do. He added: 'It creates a lot of frustration, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of whys and how and when. 'It's probably the most difficult situation that I've ever been faced with, because it's an ongoing issue that doesn't seem to be disappearing or fading off as much. Myself, as a person, I have a limit at some point, so I'll definitely have to have my final answer on whether I want to do stuff or not in the next couple of months. 'This is going to be hard, but if I see it going in that trajectory, there is no point in competing. If I'm not healthy, and I've talked about health so many times, if health is not there, then your whole tennis life becomes miserable.' Tsitsipas, 26, ruled out the option of surgery on the "very tricky injury" on the left side of his back. "It's one of those injuries that you can't be taking lightly, because tennis is a rotational sport, and if you can't rotate, then there's no reason playing it," he added.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stefanos Tsitsipas retires injured in Wimbledon first round
Stefanos Tsitsipas retired with a back injury to exit Wimbledon in the first round, abandoning his match against French qualifier Valentin Royer. The 113th-ranked Royer was two sets up against Tsitsipas, a former grand slam finalist at the Australian and French Open, when he decided to abandon. Advertisement The Greek took a medical timeout at 4-1 down in the first set, having lost the first 6-3, and received treatment for his back on-court. He was reportedly heard saying 'It's impossible to play tennis like this' as he managed the pain. The 24th seed continued to play after the timeout but after losing the second set 6-2 opted to retire. The Greek player has recently acquired the help of highly-experienced coach Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001. The Croatian enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Novak Djokovic over nine Grand Slam titles between 2019 and 2024, as well as helping Marin Cilic to his only major victory at the 2014 US Open. Advertisement Tsitsipas had said that Ivanisevic could 'definitely give me a clear direction of where I'm lacking and where I should be focusing on when it comes to my strengths,' but a premature end to his time at Wimbledon leaves an uncertain future between the pair. Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas reacts during his first round match against France's Valentin Royer (REUTERS) Preparation had gone smoothly for Tsitsipas, despite defeat to Alex Michelsen in the second round of the ATP 500 in Halle. The 26-year-old regrouped to feature in two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club last week, beating Frances Tiafoe 7-6(9), 6-7(4), 10-7 before defeat to Tomas Martin Etcheverry 4-6, 6-2, 5-10. But the back injury flared up against Royer and has scuppered hopes of bouncing back after falling down the rankings to sit 26th entering SW19. Advertisement He is the second high-profile retirement of Monday's opening day of play so far, after Ons Jabeur retired having trailed 7-6 (5), 2-0 to Bulgarian world No 111 Viktoriya Tomova when she was forced to pull out. Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece receives treatment during his first round men's single match against Valentine Royer (AP) The Tunisian, a crowd favourite at Wimbledon - where she is a two-time runner-up - was in tears before receiving treatment during a long medical timeout in the first set. The former world No 2 had looked uncomfortable in fiercely hot conditions out on Court 14 and suffers from asthma, while also enduring breathing difficulties at this year's Australian Open. Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas looks dejected after losing his first round match by walkover (REUTERS) She is unlikely to be the only player struggling in the heat, with temperatures expected to reach 34C at Wimbledon, forcing the All England Club to institute its warm-weather policy. This comes into effect when temperatures exceed 30.1C and means an extra 10-minute break between sets two and three in women's singles and three and four in men's singles. Several seeds have already fallen: ninth seed Daniil Medvedev is the highest-ranked casualty, falling in four sets to Benjamin Bonzi, while Latvin 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko lost a three-set tussle with British No 3 Sonay Kartal.
The Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Former Grand Slam finalist and one half of tennis power couple looks devastated at he retires at Wimbledon
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS retired down two sets to love to French qualifier Valentin Royer. The former world No3 was in a rotten mood throughout and pulled the plug down 6-3 6-2 due to a back issue. 1
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Former Grand Slam finalist and one half of tennis power couple looks devastated at he retires at Wimbledon
STEFANOS TSITSIPAS retired down two sets to French qualifier Valentin Royer. The former world No3 was in a rotten mood throughout and pulled the plug down 6-3 6-2 due to a back issue. 1 Stefanos Tsitsipas pulled the plug on his first round match Credit: Getty THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY.. The Sun is your go to destination for the best football, boxing and MMA news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video . Like us on Facebook at
