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Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas opts to skip 2020 ATP St. Petersburg tournament

Tsitsipas is currently ranked by the ATP as the World’s No. 6

Stefanos Tsitsipas EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

Stefanos Tsitsipas

© EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas announced a decision to skip the 2020 ATP Tennis Tournament in Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg this month, the tournament’s press office announced to TASS on Thursday.

The 25th edition of the ATP tennis tournament in St. Petersburg, which is played on indoor hard courts, is scheduled for October 12-18.

"Tsitsipas has pulled out," the tournament’s press service stated. "He is still in Paris playing at the [2020] French Open and will not come here citing fatigue and a possibility of sustaining an injury."

Playing in the quarterfinals round of the 2020 French Open on Wednesday, Tsitsipas (currently ranked by the ATP as the World’s No. 6) defeated Russia’s Andrey Rublev with the straight sets win of 7-5; 6-2; 6-3. Tsitsipas is now scheduled to face in the semifinals World’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.

The 2020 French Open tennis tournament runs between September 21 and October 11 and offers 38 million Euros (over $44.3 million) in prize money.

Due to the ongoing global spread of the novel coronavirus, qualifying matches of the Grand Slam tournament in France were held without spectators in attendance, while not more than 5,000 spectators were allowed to attend the deciding matches of the tournament.

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