What was feared in the last few days has now happened: Jannik Sinner has to withdraw from the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid due to injury. The withdrawal became official on Wednesday evening.
01. May 2024
From: leo
Jannik Sinner won the matches against Pavel Kotov and Karen Khachanov, although he suffered from hip pain. Before the quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime, which would have taken place on Thursday, the Sesto player’s appearance was more uncertain than ever – despite the additional day of rest. As it became known on Wednesday, the 22-year-old has not recovered from the exertions of the last few days and has to withdraw due to injury.
The decision is only somewhat surprising, especially since the big goals of the season are coming up in the coming weeks and months: Rome, the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. In view of this, the Sinner team preferred to fully recover from the hip injury so as not to take any unnecessary risks. The rejection is still bitter: In Madrid, Sinner’s chance of winning his first major title on clay was greater than ever before.
Sinner looks ahead
“I am very sad that I have to retire,” Sinner writes on social media. “My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly become more painful. On the advice of the doctors, we decided that it was best not to continue playing so as not to make the pain worse. I will conduct tests in the next few days and follow the specialists’ advice for recovery.”
The cancellation leaves Sinner’s complicated relationship with the tournament in the Spanish capital intact. He didn’t compete last year and failed early in both 2021 and 2022. The hope now is that Sinner can get the hip injury that bothered him in Monte Carlo under control. Auger-Aliassime, who will now face either Daniil Medvedev or Jiri Lehecka in the semi-finals, will be happy about the news. The latter eliminated Rafael Nadal on Tuesday.