Jannik Sinner withdraws from Italian Open with hip injury

Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from this year’s Italian Open, citing the same hip injury that forced him to pull out of the Madrid Open earlier this week.

Sinner made the announcement via a social media message, talking of his sadness at missing the chance to play in front of his home fans in Rome.

“It is not easy to write this message but after speaking again with the doctors and specialists about my hip problems I have to announce that unfortunately I will not be able to play in Rome,” Sinner wrote.

“Obviously I’m very sad that I didn’t recover, it being one of my favourite tournaments ever. I couldn’t wait to come back and play at home in front of the Italian crowd.”

The Italian would have been playing in his native homeland for the first time since becoming the Australian Open champion, and since leading Italy to their first Davis Cup title in 47 years when they lifted the trophy last November.

The world No 2 would have received a spine-tingling reception from the Italian crowd at what is arguably the biggest tennis tournament in the country.

Sadly, however, the hip injury that forced him to withdraw from the Madrid Open before his quarter-final match against Felix Auger-Aliassime requires more time to heal.

With Roland-Garros less than a month away, Sinner can’t afford to prolong his recovery time any further by rushing back to competitive action before he is ready.

Sinner did also reveal that he would be paying a visit to the Foro Italico, so Italian tennis fans may still have a chance to see him, just not on the match court.

“I will still come to Rome for a few days and stop by the Foro Italico,” he continued.

“Thank you for your messages of support which I appreciate very much. Now I will work with my team and doctors to be ready for Roland Garros.”

After such a spectacular start to the year, Sinner’s clay-court season has stalled somewhat following a close defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo, and now this hip injury ruining his chances of success in both Madrid and Rome.

Should he recover in time, Sinner will still enter Roland-Garros as one of the favourites. But this is not how the build-up to Paris was meant to play out for the young Italian, who will be shorter on clay-court match time than is ideal.

Nevertheless, a fit and firing Sinner at Roland-Garros will undoubtedly take some stopping. The question is, though, just how fit and firing will the Australian Open champion be.

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