This year's ATP calendar features a new event in China called the Hangzhou Open, but Matteo Berrettini and Sebastian Korda will not play in the ATP 250 event as they withdrew from it.
For the first time in history, top-level ATP tennis will be played in Hangzhou, with the city hosting its first-ever ATP event in 2024. Hangzhou is the birthplace of noted Chinese player Yibing Wu and a popular corporate city located some 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Shanghai.
The first-ever tennis event there will feature a couple of big names, such as Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune. It was supposed to feature Berrettini and Korda as well, but neither will be playing at the ATP 250 event as they both withdrew.
Berrettini likely withdrew because he signed up to play at the Davis Cup Finals, which runs literally days before the event. He would have had to rush to China to make it to the tournament that runs from September 18th to 24th.
It didn't make too much sense in light of how recent years have gone for the Italian, with several injuries troubling him, as he will want to take it slow and make his return to China one week after that event.
Playing for his country was the priority this time around, as he missed a couple of big chances to do so in the past years. Berrettini was very sorry for not being able to play at the Davis Cup Finals last year, and he wants to make it up this year.
He's already been in action, winning a couple of very important matches for his country, and that is likely preventing him from playing at the event in China.
For Korda, it's a bit different. The American last played at the US Open, and it didn't quite go as planned. The American had a great lead-up to the event, but he didn't play all that well in New York, and he picked up an injury in his match against Tomas Machac.
It was an all-too-familiar story with Korda, as he finally started playing well, but then all of a sudden, he picked up an injury, and he had to stop playing for a while.
That injury is likely the reason why fans haven't seen Korda since then, as he's not in action for the US Davis Cup team and will not participate in Hangzhou.
It's a shame because he played really well in China last year, but this year, he will have to focus on his recovery. It might just be a minor issue, and this ends up being the only event he misses, or he might even miss the ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the Asian swing, which is the Shanghai Masters.
It's unfortunate because it comes at the worst possible time for Korda. He had just won the Citi Open in Washington a few weeks ago and was ready to take the next step, but it won't be coming to Hangzhou.
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