Tim has withdrawn again, following this week's 250 in Cordoba, Argentina, and announcing on social media that he will continue to hang up the free card and withdraw from a series of South American matches, including Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago.
As for his comeback, it is tentatively scheduled for the first Masters of the year, the Indian Wells Masters, in March.
Is this a familiar situation? Looking back at the previous year, he won the first Grand Slam championship among the post-90s men's singles players, the US Open, and then overturned the two giants of Nadal and Djokovic in the year-end finals.
The outside world is generally optimistic that he can succeed Murray and Wawrinka, become another person who can compete with the big three, and carry the banner of post-90s confrontation without doubt.
But after the Australian Open five-set battle against Kyrgios last year, he deteriorated. On the way to the next promotion, the runner-up of the last tournament lost to The Bulgarian coach Dimitrov in three sets and was eliminated early.
Then came the long truce, withdrew from a series of major and large tournaments, including the Miami Masters, until the Madrid Masters in the clay season, announced his return. He has been in a position of sparing tactics for a long time, and he has not been able to play a decent performance at the Masters in Madrid and Rome.
On the Clay Ultimate Feast Network, the runner-up of the two-time tournament in the past, once known as the little prince of the clay, was eliminated in the first round, becoming the biggest unpopular in the tournament.
And beyond... Forgive the author for not remembering where else he competed. I still remember his repeated announcements of his retirement: physically and mentally exhausted, needing a thorough rest...
The phrase "Grand Slam Championship Syndrome" that surrounded him went unnoticed, and the outside world cast a skeptical look at him.
Last season, Tsitsipas finished runners-up at the Monte Carlo Masters and French Open, and Zverev regained the Madrid Masters and the year-end finals, becoming the player who won the most titles on the Tour.
Timmo said that compared to Medvedev, even these two former laggards have gradually caught up. Tim's one-time Grand Slam champion, three-time runner-up and one-time Masters champion are in jeopardy.
The only good news this time was that it wasn't the old wrist injuries that led him to withdraw from the competition in a row — old injuries that he himself said had fully recovered — but new injuries to his knuckles. I hope that the impact on him will not be too great, otherwise if there are new injuries in succession, the damage to people's confidence will be great.
Hopefully, Tim will be able to arrive in Indian Wells! (Source: Tennis House Author: Luo ChengQiye)