Sinner’s Cincinnati withdrawal disrupts US Open preparations after remarkable run

World number one Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Cincinnati Masters 1000 because of a knee injury, dealing a significant blow to the tournament and raising concerns over his fitness for the US Open later this month.

The Cincinnati event is scheduled to take place from 13 to 23 August and was due to be the final major preparation tournament before the last Grand Slam of the season. However, Sinner’s decision means he will not defend the title he won in 2024.

Organisers confirmed the Italian’s withdrawal in a statement on Sunday. It comes only days after his Spanish rival Carlos Alcaraz also pulled out of the same competition, meaning spectators in Ohio will be denied the chance to see the two leading players in men’s tennis.

Sinner’s absence from Cincinnati is his second consecutive withdrawal. He also missed the Montreal tournament this week and has not played a competitive match since winning his second Wimbledon title on 12 July.

As a result, he is set to arrive at the US Open, which begins on 30 August, without having played a single match on hard courts during the build-up to the tournament.

The 25-year-old had been dominant in Masters 1000 events in recent months. In 2025, he won five tournaments in succession across the category, claiming titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. That run followed his victory in Paris at the end of last year.

Despite that exceptional form, Sinner is taking a cautious approach to his knee problem. The US Open is his main priority as the final Grand Slam of the summer, particularly after he won the tournament in 2024 as part of a career haul that includes five major titles.

His current situation recalls the physical difficulties he faced during last year’s North American swing. Sinner endured a demanding sequence of matches before withdrawing from the Cincinnati final against Alcaraz. He then suffered another defeat by the Spaniard in the final of the US Open.

That experience was a difficult one for the Italian, who is keen to avoid a repeat as he prepares for this year’s American hard-court season.

The simultaneous absence of Sinner and Alcaraz is a major loss for Cincinnati. The tournament had been expected to provide a series of high-profile contests between the sport’s leading names, just weeks before the American hard-court season reaches its climax at Flushing Meadows.

Sinner’s withdrawal also leaves uncertainty over whether he will be sufficiently prepared to begin his US Open title defence. With no matches played since his Wimbledon success and no hard-court appearance scheduled before the Grand Slam, his recovery will now be closely monitored ahead of the tournament.