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Jannik Sinner, the no. 1 men’s tennis player on tour, is having a very strange season. Just last month, he won the Wimbledon championships, beating French Open champion Alexander Zverev in a decisive four-set final. Less than two months earlier though, he lost the French Open in the second round, his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2023. Now, perhaps most shockingly of all, he’s skipping the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam of the year.
To tennis enthusiasts, though, there were early indications that something was amiss for the Italian. He didn’t play any of the hard court warm-up tournaments: Washington, the Canadian Open, and Cincinnati. Ahead of Cincinnati, where he reached the final last year, he announced that he was rehabbing a knee injury. On August 21st, Sinner confirmed his “right knee issue,” and officially announced his withdrawal from the tournament through an Instagram post:
“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 U.S. Open this year. We have been back on court in Monte Carlo over the last couple of days and have realised 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.
An exact diagnosis hasn’t been shared, but given his recent victory at Wimbledon, it seems likely that Sinner was injured during practice rather than in competition. This isn’t the first health concern for Sinner, who was born in the snowy region of South Tyrol. In a number of recent tournaments including the French Open, he seems to have wilted under the heat, though an exact cause hasn’t been publicly shared. Still, this will mark the first time that the 25-year-old will miss a Grand Slam since his U.S. Open debut in 2019. He’s also won five Grand Slam titles since 2023, and been the top-ranked men’s player since April.
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Jannik Sinner with the 2026 Wimbledon trophy.
Ironically, though Sinner’s had the sort of year that most players can only dream of, it’s been a very rocky road. He began the year losing to then 38-year-old Novak Djkocovic in the Australian Open semi-finals. He bounced back quickly winning five Masters 1000 tour level events back to back: Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Monte Carlo Masters, the Madrid Open, and Rome. Then came the second round of the French Open, where, at 2 sets and 5 games up, his body seemed to give out in the 92° heat. His loss to No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerúndolo shocked tennis fans around the world. He then reportedly did some health testing in Italy, and, when he reappeared in England a few weeks later, he was strong enough to win Wimbledon. Then, as he withdrew from Cincinnati on August 9th, the first reports that his knee was injured appeared online an in the media. Now he’s formally withdrawn, though an exact diagnosis has not been given.
Since April, he’s also been missing his most famous rival and friend, Carlos Alcaraz, who sustained a right forearm injury in April. Alcaraz, however, shocked many when—after also missing the hard court season—he decided to play the U.S. Open, beginning with Mixed Doubles competition. He and Serena Williams won their first match yesterday. Sinner was also slated to play in that tournament, partnering with the No. 1 women’s doubles player Kateřina Siniaková. (Sinner withdrew from that tournament, too.)
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Jannik Sinner with the U.S. Open championship trophy.
Before this most recent announcement, Sinner was the undisputed favorite for the title, which he won in 2024. And with this absence, along with Alcaraz’s continued uncertainty—the men’s competition is more open, and potentially more exciting—than it has been for years.
Dorothy Scarborough (she/her) is the assistant to the Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Elle Decor.