Salvatore Caruso: it looked like a heart attack, it was just a panic attack

• Tennis News
• ATP Tennis

There were moments of fear at the ATP Challenger in Parma for Salvatore Caruso. In the event of Montechiarugolo, a town in the province of Emilia-Romagna, the first round was played between two Italian players: Alessandro Giannessi and Caruso himself.

The latter, 32 years-old born in Avola, had found himself at the center of international public opinion due to his presence at the Australian Open: he was the lucky loser (after losing in the last qualifying round against Taro Daniel) fished out for the first Grand Slam of the season due to the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic, due to the decision of the Melbourne court not to grant him a visa to enter Australian soil due to the choice not to be vaccinated against Covid19.

"Let's say that I have become the most famous lucky loser in history," he declared in Melbourne after the story that had indirectly involved him. After the Australian event and the defeat in Melbourne with another Serb, Miomir Kecmanovic, many Challengers for the number 205 of the world, who decided to play this week in Parma, on the Emilian clay court.

A match that, however, he was unable to complete due to a panic attack in the fifth game of the second set.

The panic attack and recovery

In the first match of the tournament, on the score of 6-3, 3-1, the Italian tennis player collapsed to the ground: the chair judge decided to immediately stop the game and call for help.

Caruso returned to the locker room to resolve the tachycardia; only when the situation was under control, he returned to the court on his own feet, testifying to the fact that it was nothing serious. Although he recovered, for precautionary reasons, Salvatore Caruso still decided to withdraw from the match against Giannessi and abandon the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup.

The world number 203, benefited from the retirement, will face the winner between Zapata Mirelles in the second round, seeded number seven of the tournament, and Kovalik. Panic attacks can cause symptoms such as cardiac arrest, with the patient feeling close to death, and usually resolve within minutes.

Salvatore #Caruso, quello che ha preso insulti per essere stato ripescato agli Australian Open al posto di Djokovic, ha avuto un attacco di panico e si è sdraiato in campo al Challenger di Parma senza riuscire a respirare.

Ritirato contro Giannessi. Ora sta meglio 🚑 #tennis pic.twitter.com/dQYTA1P1eI — Matteo Mosciatti (@matmosciatti11) June 13, 2022

Update: dopo le cure mediche ricevute e le iniziali difficoltà a ristabilizzare i battiti cardiaci, Salvatore #Caruso sta meglio ed è con coach Paolo #Cannova 🟢 #tennis https://t.co/NZ6DgxJV5F pic.twitter.com/nfRlbKBxg5 — Matteo Mosciatti (@matmosciatti11) June 13, 2022