Metz: a cascade of withdrawals after a gruelling season
The Metz ATP 250 kicked off yesterday, with the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 final still to come.
Now positioned at the very end of the season between Paris and the Masters, the Metz tournament suffers from this position in the calendar.
The first withdrawals were announced at the beginning of last week, with those of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sebastian Korda and Matteo Berrettini.
But it was the Paris-Bercy tournament in particular that brought the flood of withdrawals, with Holger Rune and Karen Khachanov, both semi-finalists in the capital, logically having to forego playing in one more tournament this season.
On the French side, Ugo Humbert was expected to defend his title, but his surprise final in Paris took its toll on his physique. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, also tired after his title in Basel, preferred to call time on his season.
And as if that wasn't enough, Arthur Rinderknech withdrew a few hours before he was due to start today, leaving the field open to young Theo Papamalamis (ranked 721st in the world), a lucky loser after losing in the 1st round of qualifying.
Metz 
