Stefanos Tsitsipas pulled out of his top-10 showdown with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz at the ATP Cup Saturday with an elbow issue, but then took to the court for a doubles clash, saying he was taking it “match-by-match”.
The Greek world number four was due to face the world number nine in his season-opening game after compatriot Michail Pervolarakis lost 6-1, 6-4 to Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in the 16-nation event in Sydney.
But instead Aristotelis Thanos played with Tsitsipas watching from the team bench.
The 23-year-old had right elbow surgery in late November after pulling out of the ATP Finals in Turin.
Thanos, ranked 1,076, stood no chance against a polished Hurkacz, who raced past him 6-1, 6-2 to seal the tie for Poland.