"Given the state of things, I tried to move him around as much as possible," Rune reflects on Tiafoe's withdrawal

Beaten last year in the Cincinnati semifinals by Tiafoe (4-6, 6-1, 7-6), Rune had hoped to take revenge on the American this year. Unfortunately, the match was cut short due to Tiafoe's withdrawal. At 6-4, 3-1, Tiafoe was unable to continue, visibly struggling with a back issue.

The Dane addressed the situation in the press conference after the match, as reported by Tennis World Italia.

"At 4-4, when there was the break and he took the medical timeout, I knew something was wrong with Frances. Later, of course, I saw he was struggling to play. Given the state of things, I tried to move him around as much as possible. But obviously, it’s never nice to finish a match like this, and I wish him a speedy recovery."

Now through to the quarterfinals, Rune will face Frenchman Atmane, who defeated Fritz in the previous round. The two players have never faced each other on tour.