Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his Shanghai Masters match against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor after sustaining a heavy cramp in his lower thigh: 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-2.
After clinching his first win since July 16th, Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor met world number 2 Jannik Sinner in the second round of the Shanghai Masters following the Italian's straight-sets win over Daniel Altmaier.
A stable first set saw neither player give up a single break point, with Griekspoor barely able to win a return point. Sinner opened the tiebreak furiously with two consecutive breaks and a 4-0 lead, which the Italian maestro did not give away en route to a 7-3 tiebreak win.
The second set showed much more promise from the start for both players. Griekspoor opened the set with a break point in the first game, but could not steal the game from Sinner's grasp. The Dutchman fiercely defended his own game afterwards, fending off three break points as Sinner infatuated the Shanghai crowd with a top-quality passing shot.
Both men played at a high level as breaks kept getting deflected, predominantly by Griekspoor after erasing a 40-0 deficit in the crucial eighth game.
An apparent ankle injury bugged Sinner in the eleventh game of the second set, which Griekspoor dominated and used to win the match's first break on love game. The Dutchman continued his high-level play in the following service game, earning him his first set win of the day.
Injury trouble
Sinner and Griekspoor fought an interesting battle in the third and final set before Griekspoor snatched a break and Sinner got a heavy cramp in his lower thigh, forcing him to leave the court with support from the medical staff. The Italian world-beater was barely able to walk and made the decision to retire from the match.
Griekspoor grabbed his second win against a world number two of the year after beating Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells in March. The 27th-seeded Griekspoor will face Monegasque Valentin Vacherot next, following his win over Tomas Machac, who retired with an injury in the second set.
View all the statistics of this match on Flashscore.
