Jannik Sinner will not play in the Cincinnati Open, withdrawing from the Masters 1000 event on Sunday due to a right knee problem that has kept the world No. 1 from competing since Wimbledon, where he won his fifth Grand Slam title.
He said in a statement released by the tournament that the knee has been bothering him and that despite working closely with his medical team he is not ready to compete. He described himself as disappointed to miss Cincinnati and said his focus is now on preparing for the U.S. Open, which begins its main draw on Aug. 30.
The withdrawal means Sinner will not defend his Cincinnati title from 2024. It also extends what has become an extended absence from the Masters 1000 circuit. He also sat out last week’s Masters 1000 event in Toronto, and earlier in the season he was absent from Masters events in Rome, Madrid, Monte Carlo, Miami and Indian Wells. The Cincinnati withdrawal is the latest in that pattern.
Sinner’s status heading into the U.S. Open
Sinner, 24, is the defending U.S. Open champion, having won the title in 2024. He lost the championship last year when Carlos Alcaraz defeated him in the final, so the Open represents an opportunity to reclaim a title that is already associated with his name.
The knee injury creates an element of uncertainty heading into that bid. A player of Sinner’s caliber typically uses the Masters events in the two weeks before the U.S. Open to sharpen match play and test conditions, and skipping both Toronto and Cincinnati leaves him without any competitive matches between Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. Whether the rest has been sufficient for the knee to recover, or whether the extended break will leave him underprepared, is a question that will only be answered when he takes the court in New York.
His ranking as world No. 1 is not in immediate jeopardy from the missed events, as he has enough points banked from his recent Grand Slam success to remain at the top even while absent from Masters competition. But rankings are secondary to match fitness at this stage of the calendar.
Alcaraz also out of Cincinnati
He is not the only top-ranked player missing from Cincinnati this week. Carlos Alcaraz, ranked No. 2 in the world, is also absent, continuing to recover from a wrist injury ahead of the U.S. Open. Alcaraz is the defending Cincinnati champion and the reigning U.S. Open champion, adding further weight to his own pre-Open preparation picture.
The absence of both the world’s top two players from Cincinnati is unusual for a Masters 1000 event of this standing and changes the competitive landscape of the tournament. Other players in the draw will have a cleaner path to the title, and several of the circuit’s next tier of contenders will use the week to make a case for their own U.S. Open readiness.
The Sinner-Alcaraz U.S. Open dynamic
The two have been the defining players of the men’s game for the past two years, trading Grand Slam titles and sitting atop the rankings in a rivalry that has produced some of the most compelling matches of the era. At the U.S. Open specifically, Alcaraz took the title from Sinner last year after Sinner had won it the year before, setting up a direct rematch narrative heading into this year’s tournament.
Both players arriving in New York with some physical uncertainty introduces unpredictability into a matchup that might otherwise be treated as a foregone conclusion to reach the final.
