Daniil Medvedev won't be playing at the 2023 Zhuhai Championships, presumably due to fatigue from the US Open run.
Medvedev last played in New York, where he made his way to the US Open final. It was a superb run from the Russian, who bested Carlos Alcaraz to book the final against Novak Djokovic. Despite playing amazing tennis, the Russian played below his level in the final, losing in straight sets to now 24-time Grand Slam champion.
He had some issues in that match, especially with his shoulder, but downplayed it after the match as nothing serious. We don't know whether that has something with his withdrawal from the ATP 250 event in Zhuhai, but it's most likely a combination of many factors, including fatigue, which forced him out of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown event in Frankfurt.
Zhuhai is only an ATP 250 event, so it is not that important in this East Asia stretch for the world no. 3 in the ATP Rankings. The Beijing Open is an ATP 500 event, and, of course, the Shanghai Masters, which is an ATP Masters 1000 tournament. It's been a few years since Medvedev last played in East Asia, but he likes it there, and all events being played on hard courts certainly explain that.
It's been a somewhat shaky summer for Medvedev, even though he had a deep run at Wimbledon by making the semi-finals and making the finals in New York. The Cincinnati Masters and Canadian Open performances didn't wow anybody, so fans are hopeful that a return to Asia will see him play some of his best tennis.
He'd certainly like to finish off the year on a high note after having an incredible run earlier this year. We'll see when he makes his return, but it's likely to happen at the Beijing Open, though he might skip that one as well and simply play the Shanghai Masters.
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