Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Paris Masters with fatigue.
Sinner’s second-round match against American Mackenzie McDonald did not start until after midnight and finished at 02:37 local time on Thursday.
The 22-year-old was scheduled to play Australian Alex de Minaur in the third round later on Thursday.
“I am sorry to announce that I am withdrawing from today’s match in Bercy,” said Sinner on X.
“I finished the match when it was almost three in the morning and didn’t go to bed until a few hours later. I had less than 12 hours to rest and prepare for the next game.
“I have to make the right decision for my health and my body.”
Sinner battled back from losing a first-set tie-break to beat McDonald 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-1 in Paris.
On Tuesday, Dominic Thiem beat Stan Wawrinka at 02:22 local time, in what has become a far from unusual finishing time in tennis.
‘He should not have had to choose’
Russell Fuller, BBC Sport analysis
Sinner says he pulled out to prioritise his health and body – and points out that after completing his post-match routine in the early hours of this morning, he had less than 12 hours to rest and prepare for today’s match.
He has two very important tournaments still to play. The ATP Finals on home soil in Turin in ten days time, followed by the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga with a promising Italian team.
But he should not have had to choose.
Both the ATP and the WTA Tour are currently looking into what they can do to control the recent trend of ludicrously late finishes, but it is not easy for them to dictate to tournament owners and promoters.
Some tournaments have reduced the number of matches on the show courts, but in Paris they still try to shoehorn four singles matches into the 11am day session, and then two more into a night session which frequently gets under way later than the scheduled 19:30 start.
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