Jannik Sinner’s defence of his Rolex Shanghai Masters title ended in unfortunate fashion on Sunday evening. He was forced to retire during the deciding set of his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor.

Griekspoor led 6-7(3), 7-5, 3-2 when Sinner, ranked No. 2 in the ATP standings, stopped playing in the humid Shanghai conditions. The Italian seemed to suffer from cramps in his right thigh, which began late in the second set.

Jannik Sinner tried using ice towels and stretching but continued to limp between points. At the 2-1 changeover, he rested his legs on the bench to ease the pain.

According to holiday-weather.com, the average temperature in Shanghai in October is 19 degrees Celsius. However, on October 5, the highest temperature in Shanghai was 33°C. The humidity level was recorded at a “moderate” level.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win. Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours and 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set… I’m sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery,” ATP Tour quoted Griekspoor as saying.

“I thought he played an unbelievable tie-break: He hit a couple of lines, served really well. I got a bit lucky at 3-4 in the second, where I saved 0/40 and served my way out of it. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck to win these matches,” Griekspoor added.

A video of Jannik Sinner being helped by the physio to walk to his chair has gone viral. The clip of the incident before his retirement from the match has gained more than 7.5 lakh views.

“Really tough scenes to watch,” says the caption of a tweet sharing the video.

Social media reaction

“OMG, that is painful to watch! How did he get injured? Was it during the match? Best wishes to Jannik for a speedy recovery!” reacted one user.

“It’s looking bad. Sinner is just too weak physically to play in such conditions. The same thing happened in the Cincinnati final against Alcaraz,” posted another.

A Twitter user wrote, “The 2025 Asian swing tournaments in China (Shanghai Masters, China Open) and Japan (Kinoshita Group Japan Open in Tokyo, Osaka) are among the year’s most injury-prone, with frequent retirements, withdrawals, and absences. This reflects broader 2025 tennis injury trends, but the high-profile cases have drawn scrutiny.”

“It’s a testament to Novak Djokovic’s fitness at 38. He’s never cramped out of a tournament like this,” came from another.

“Poor Jannik. There are too many tournaments,” commented another.