Aussie Open champion Sinner won't defend his title in Rotterdam / Photo: Yuichi YAMAZAKI - AFP
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Aussie Open champion Sinner won't defend his title in Rotterdam
World number one Jannik Sinner will not defend his ATP 500 title in Rotterdam as the Italian's "body needs time to rest" after winning the Australian Open, tournament organisers announced Monday.
Sinner, 23, defeated Germany's Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 on Sunday to win his third Grand Slam title, following success last year in Melbourne and victory at the US Open in September.
"After consulting with my team we had to take the difficult decision to withdraw from the ABN AMRO Open," said Sinner in a statement on the tournament's website.
"My body needs time to rest after the long run in Australia. I have great memories from winning the title in front of amazing crowds at Rotterdam Ahoy last year and hope to be back there soon."
Bulgarian world number 11 Grigor Dimitrov will also miss out on Rotterdam after he was forced to retire injured from the Australian Open.
Following Sinner's withdrawal, the field in Rotterdam will be headed up world number three Carlos Alcaraz.
Fellow top 10 players Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev are set to join Alcaraz in the main draw.
D.Verstraete--JdB
