Denis Shapovalov won't be competing at the 2023 Italian Open in Rome as he's struggling with an injury.
Only a few weeks ago, the 24-year-old Canadian was forced to withdraw from the Monte-Carlo Masters. He then competed at the Madrid Open, where he lost in his opening match against world no. 99 Zhizhen Zhang, who then surprisingly made it all the way to the quarterfinals.
After a disappointing loss, Shapovalov hit the practice court again in hope to regain his confidence and top form, but it seems that over the past few months, an injury has been bothering him and so to prevent the issue from becoming larger, he has decided to withdraw from the Italian Open.
As he revealed in an announcement, it's a knee pain that is causing him troubles and made him withdraw also from the ATP 1000 event, that he usually wouldn't like to miss out on, especially because of his previous success.
"Hi everyone, I’m really disappointed to be missing Italian Open this year. I’ve been dealing with knee pain on court the last several months so my team and medical staff determined this is the best decision so I can get better soon. I’ll miss the Rome fans! See you all soon."
In 2020, the Canadian played semifinals in Rome and last year, he reached quarterfinals. With 12 wins in 17 matches and 71% win rate, it's his most successful ATP Masters 1000 tournament and he surely wanted to challenge himself again on the courts of Foro Italico.
Shapovalov added his name to the growing list of withdrawals alongside Rafael Nadal, but missing the event in Rome can cost him a lot. Due to his participation in the quarterfinals last year, he was set to defend 180 points.
Now, he knows that it won't happen and he will drop by at least four places in the ATP Rankings, and an even more significant drop can await him. For now, we wish Denis a speedy recovery as the tennis world can't wait to see him again at the Roland Garros.
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