Jannik Sinner’s surprise withdrawal from the 2026 US Open has been linked to a knee problem that has kept him off court since Wimbledon.

The world No 1 has not competed since beating Alexander Zverev in four sets to win the Wimbledon final last month. After later missing the Canadian Open, Sinner said a right knee issue had been “bothering” him when he announced he would also skip the Cincinnati Open.

Last week, he confirmed that the same problem would rule him out of New York, saying he needed additional time before returning.

“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,” the 25-year-old wrote.

“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.”

A report from Sky Sport Italy has now given a clearer picture of the problem, describing it as “extra-articular tendon inflammation” in Sinner’s right knee. The report added that it is “the least serious type” of knee tendon inflammation and said it is mainly treated through rest and physical therapy.

The same report noted that attempting to play the US Open would not have been the right call. “Trying to play wouldn’t have been impossible, but it was certainly not advisable considering the rest of the season and especially the future,” it stated.

Sky Sport Italy also said a return for Beijing and Shanghai is “the primary option on the table” for the five-time major winner.

Sinner is the reigning China Open champion, and the 2026 Beijing ATP 500 begins on 30 September, giving him more time to recover. He has continued treatment at JMedical in Turin this week.

Daniil Medvedev believes Carlos Alcaraz’s return to competitive tennis will be more demanding on his body than on the wrist that has kept him out of action.

Alcaraz is set to face Roman Safiullin in the first round, marking his first competitive singles match since April. That inevitably puts the spotlight on the wrist issue that has delayed his comeback, but Medvedev suggested the longer format of a grand slam may be the greater challenge.

“Of course we don’t know the details, right? The injury that he had, but I think if he’s here and he will try to play, it means that he and his team are confident that the injury is not gonna get worsened,” he said.

Medvedev added that the body-wide demands of a best-of-five match could matter more than the wrist itself.

“Because, in my opinion, whatever happened to his wrist, I don’t know exactly, it doesn’t matter if he would play three or five sets, because if it’s not completely healed, he would play seven-six in the third and probably is gonna hurt.

“And I don’t think two extra sets will have a big toll on his body for sure because he didn’t play for a long time, like on the legs, glutes, and stuff like this. But probably on his wrist, not really, because if that’s something that has healed, I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.

“But it’s more, as I say, for the whole body as itself. If he has a tough match, it could be interesting. To see how he copes. We should not forget that if he has pain, he could retire any moment.

“So I think it’s really nice for me to see him here to play. If I’m going to have the chance, definitely going to watch his match. He’s playing my friend Roman as well, so it’s going to be interesting for me. And I wish that he doesn’t feel any pain and plays freely.”

Alcaraz said the decision to return was not straightforward. “My team and me, [we] believe that I’m ready. It wasn’t an easy decision,” Alcaraz said. “I just did whatever it took to be ready. I just tried to do everything perfect on and off the court, to feel ready, really long practices, really intense practices- just to see how my wrist is going to react during the practices and after [those] really long days.”

Alexander Zverev has admitted that the pressure of suddenly being the man to beat at the French Open left him far less calm than he appeared.

With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury and Jannik Sinner knocked out in the second round, the world No 3 found himself installed as the favourite in Paris. On the surface, Zverev kept his composure. In private, he says the reality was very different.

The German has long carried the burden of not having won a Grand Slam title, a storyline that only sharpened as the Big Three era faded and Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner emerged as the new standard-bearers. For a stretch, it looked as though Zverev might again be left behind by the sport’s biggest prizes. Instead, the draw opened up in his favour, and he now admits he was not nearly as relaxed as he pretended.

“I was s***ting my pants for two weeks,” he joked with Andy Roddick on his Served podcast. “Sorry for the language.

“But no, it’s the truth. I mean, every single day in the press conference, somebody was asking me about it, and like, what do you expect me to say? I was like, you expect me to say yes? I’m nervous. I can’t sleep at night. I’m not eating.

“I was like, no, it doesn’t affect me. It’s, it’s fine. It’s just another tournament. Don’t win the French Open, probably kill myself. It’s the worst thing that could happen.

“So I was lying to everyone. I was lying to myself as well.”

Zverev also said Roddick had already spoken to him last year about handling that kind of expectation, drawing from his own experience of dealing with the late-career presence of Rafa and Roger.

“We had a phone call for about probably an hour and a half in in December, where I talked to you about you being in a similar position where the only difference was you won the U.S. Open early on in your career, but you were in a similar position with obviously Rafa and and Roger throughout the later stage of your career.

“I was like, how do you deal with it? What do you do? How do you try to wait for your chances? And there was a clear path for me in my game. What I needed to improve to win a Grand Slam. There was a clear path for me be able to compete with those guys and beat them eventually.

“Of course I’m very happy that I did it at the French Open because, of course, at my age, I’m 29 years old. You don’t know if you’re ever going to get a chance again. You don’t know if you’re ever going to do it, and I’m happy that I did it.”