By Estea Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Jannik Sinner has pulled out of the Cincinnati Open with a right knee injury, the tournament confirmed on Sunday, leaving both finalists from last year’s edition absent from the Masters 1000 event as they turn their attention to the US Open.
“After consulting with my doctors and my team, I have to announce that I need to withdraw from the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati,” Sinner said. “My right knee has been bothering me, and even though we have been working hard with my medical team, I have to accept that I’m not ready to compete yet.”
Reports had already placed the world No 1 in Milan earlier in the week, where he underwent an unscheduled scan on the knee, and the withdrawal confirmed the concerns that visit had raised. He struck a forward-looking note in his statement, adding: “I’m very disappointed not to be able to play in Cincinnati and wish Bob and his whole team a great and successful event. I can’t wait to be back next year, and I’m now focusing on getting ready for the US Open.”
Sinner last played at Wimbledon, where he beat Alexander Zverev in the final to claim his fifth Grand Slam title and move to 11-4 in their head-to-head series. Earlier in the season, he won the first five ATP Masters 1000 titles of the year, a run that ended in Rome when he became only the second man after Novak Djokovic to complete the Career Golden Masters.
Cincinnati now marks back-to-back missed Masters 1000 events for the Italian after he already sat out Montreal. If he takes his place in the US Open draw, it will be his first match of any kind since the Wimbledon final, a sharp change of pace from the spring, when he strung together titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome without a break. I
Carlos Alcaraz had already withdrawn earlier in the week, still nursing a wrist injury that has kept him sidelined since April. Both men are now racing to be fit for New York, where they met in last year’s final, leaving Cincinnati without either of the sport’s two leading names when the draw opens on 13 August and runs through to 23 August. Djokovic and Zverev remain among those still set to compete.