Though the Shanghai Masters is still days away, players have already started withdrawing from the tournament. One of them is last year’s finalist, Arthur Rinderknech. Having recently pulled out of the China Open due to an abdominal injury, the Frenchman’s start to the Asian swing has now been further delayed, and this will have a major impact on his ranking.

Rinderknech will drop out of the top 50 because of his withdrawal from the Shanghai Masters. He will lose a massive 650 points in the rankings for not playing the Masters 1000 event and will be replaced by Tomas Machac. He is currently ranked No. 33 and has 1,520 points under his belt and will be left with just 870 after the Shanghai Masters.

Rinderknech picked up the abdominal injury after his campaign at the US Open. After getting eliminated in the third round against Daniil Medvedev, he signed up for the China Open. Rinderknech was scheduled to face Alex Molcan in the first round of the tournament, but the match never went ahead.

While Rinderknech wouldn’t have wanted to miss the China Open, he would be absolutely gutted to skip the Shanghai Masters. He had a Cinderella run in the tournament last year, defeating players like Alexander Zverev, Jiri Lehecka, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Medvedev on his way to the final. Though Valentin Vacherot ended his run by triumphing in three sets in the final, Rinderknech’s run was nothing short of remarkable.

The abdominal injury isn’t the first setback that Rinderknech has suffered this year. He had sustained a left calf injury during the clay swing in April. He had to retire mid-match against Vit Kopriva in Madrid and then had to miss out on the Italian Open. Injuries aren’t the only thing Rinderknech has suffered from this season.

The Frenchman hasn’t been able to maintain decent form this season and has struggled to win matches in the majority of the tournaments. He has an underwhelming win-loss record of 18-22 this season and has barely made deep runs in any tournament. With only a few tournaments remaining on the calendar this season, Rinderknech’s main goal now will be to make a quick recovery and end the year on a positive note.

Rinderknech isn’t the only notable player to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters. Turns out that a number of players have already decided to pull out of the event, and the list is expected to grow further in the coming days.

Joao Fonseca and Corentin Moutet headline Shanghai Masters’ withdrawal list

The most notable player to withdraw from the event so far is Joao Fonseca. The Brazilian had recently announced that he won’t be playing the entire Asian swing due to an abdominal injury. This is the same injury that forced him to pull out of the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open. He has been replaced by Zachary Svajda in the tournament.

“I talked a lot with my team, and we came to the conclusion that the best decision right now is to listen to my body, give my mind and body a break, and skip the Asian swing,” Fonseca wrote in an Instagram post.

Another player to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters is none other than Corentin Moutet. Like Fonseca, he has also withdrawn from the entire Asian swing to recover from a persistent wrist injury. In his place, Marco Trungelliti will be playing in the tournament.

Other players to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters include Román Andrés Burruchaga, Raphaël Collignon, Sebastian Korda and Ethan Quinn. Veteran Marin Cilic is one of the players who have gotten an opportunity to feature in the tournament due to Quinn’s withdrawal. It remains to be seen if any more notable players will withdraw from the Shanghai Masters in the coming days.