By Claire Gordon – 5 January 2022 @ 18:10
Tennis ace Nikoloz Basilashvili was forced to retire after struggling to breathe in his ATP Cup match in Sydney today, Wednesday 5 January. The Georgian needed treatment from a doctor during his singles match against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and eventually, the match was abandoned.
Play was halted when Basilashvili was serving at 4-1 down in the first set. After he hit a long forehand to go 0-30 down to his Greek opponent, he left the court slowly to head towards his team area. He tried to take some deep breaths and sip on some water while he waited for the physio to attend to him.