08/21/26 10:13:00
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08/21 10:12 CDT Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdraws from the US Open with a knee
injury
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdraws from the US Open with a knee injury
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdrew from the U.S. Open on
Friday, unable to recover from a right knee injury that has sidelined him since
winning the Wimbledon title.
Sinner beat Alexander Zverev last month for his second straight title at the
All England Club, but then pulled out of the hard-court tournaments in Montreal
and Cincinnati that serve as a warmup for the U.S. Open.
The 25-year-old Italian wrote Friday that he won't be ready when the main draw
begins on Aug. 30.
"Even though I have been working hard with my team and my medical staff, we
have now had to make the difficult decision that I will not be able to compete
at the US Open this year," Sinner wrote in a post on X.
"We have been back on court in Monte Carlo over the last couple of days and
have realized that I still need more time to recover from my right knee issue.
I'm obviously very sad and disappointed, as New York has a special place in my
heart. I was very much looking forward to coming back and playing in the
electric atmosphere in front of the great fans there."
Sinner was the 2024 U.S. Open champion and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last
year's final.
Alcaraz posted on social media on Thursday that he would be ready to play in
New York after he has been out of action since April because of a right wrist
injury.
The rivalry between those two has dominated men's tennis in recent years, and
they met in the last three Grand Slam finals in 2025. Alcaraz took the most
recent one with his four-set victory in New York.
That ended Sinner's title reign after he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in
the 2024 final.
Sinner is 44-3 with six titles this year. He had a stunning collapse at the
French Open, blowing a two-set lead while struggling in the heat in his
second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He then sat out until
Wimbledon, where his victory gave him five Grand Slam titles.
It will be the first time Sinner has missed a Grand Slam tournament since
making his major debut at the U.S. Open in 2019.
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