Jannik Sinner has cast doubt on his French Open participation, with the world number two saying he will only compete at Roland Garros later this month if he fully recovers from a hip issue that forced him out of Madrid and Rome.
Sinner sustained the injury at Madrid and pulled out of his quarter-final against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime last week, before the Italian decided to skip the Rome tournament which runs from May 8-19.
The 22-year-old, who claimed his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, said the injury was more serious than initially suspected.
“At Roland Garros, I’ll only play if I’m 100%, if there’s any doubt we have to see,” Sinner told reporters.
“Some injuries can be prevented, some can’t. So far we’ve done a great job, last year I played a whole season without injuries and also in this season so far.”
Sinner said he could prioritise his health over the year’s second Grand Slam, which begins on May 26. “Now I’ll have a period without playing... we need to see how to work from next week onwards,” Sinner added.
“Preparation for Roland Garros will clearly not be optimal.
We’ll give our best to get there in the best possible conditions to compete, but playing a Grand Slam without matches in Rome isn’t easy.
“With the MRI we saw that something isn’t 100% OK. However, we have everything under control. If it doesn’t get 100% cured, I’ll stop a little longer. Taking care of the body is more important than everything else.”
Rublev to return to hospital after taking Madrid titleAndrey Rublev battled through a suspected virus and an anaesthetised foot to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6 7-5 7-5 to claim the Madrid Open title on Sunday, but revealed that he will now have to return to hospital to make a full recovery.
The 26-year-old Russian, who has struggled with health issues throughout the tournament, recovered from the illness and an opening set wobble to clinch his second Masters 1000 title in just under three hours. “I’m still sick and tomorrow I think I’ll go back to the hospital for a full check-up to know exactly what’s going on,” Rublev told a news conference.
“I’ve been sick for eight or nine days now, it’s not normal, I’m not really getting better, which is strange because usually I get sick for two or three days at the most and maybe a fever, but nothing special. This is the first time in my life that I feel this bad.”
The seventh seed added that he needed an anaesthetic to play the final.
“They put an anaesthetic in the finger on my foot because somehow it got inflamed and started to get bigger and the pressure started to be on the bone and I can’t even put my shoe.
“The feeling was similar to when you broke it, so they put an anaesthetic so I me to don’t feel it and at least I could play without thinking.”
Rublev, who came into the Madrid tournament in poor form having lost his previous four matches on the tour, eliminated second seed and home favourite Carlos Alcaraz and also beat American Taylor Fritz to reach the final.
“I think it is normal to have ups and downs, but my focus now is to keep working and trying to improve. I think I showed a great level of tennis from the first match and in the end I was able to win the title,” he said.
“Now I think the most important thing is to try and recover and be ready for Rome,” he added.
