Tsitsipas through to fourth round after injured Bedene retires

Tsitsipas, the reigning ATP Finals champion, kept his focus and went about his business smoothly, hitting 28 winners and breaking the 56th-ranked Bedene’s serve five times before the 31-year-old decided he could no longer continue.

Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the fourth round of the French Open on Saturday after his opponent Aljaz Bedene retired with an ankle injury while trailing 6-1 6-2 3-1.

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas clenches his fist after scoring a point against Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene in the third round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. (AP)

Slovenian Bedene, who defeated Tsitsipas in straight sets when they met at Rotterdam earlier this year, first called for the physiotherapist on Court Suzanne Lenglen to get treatment on his right ankle after going down 5-0 in the opening set.

After returning to court Bedene won the first game to get on the scoreboard and then got his ankle strapped before the start of the second set.

Tsitsipas, the reigning ATP Finals champion, kept his focus and went about his business smoothly, hitting 28 winners and breaking the 56th-ranked Bedene’s serve five times before the 31-year-old decided he could no longer continue.

In his fourth round, the Greek will play the winner of the match between Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov and Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain.