{"id":2672,"date":"2026-08-22T13:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T13:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2672"},"modified":"2026-08-22T13:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T13:04:38","slug":"jannik-sinners-us-open-withdrawal-branded-a-shock-as-annabel-croft-makes-worrying-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2672","title":{"rendered":"Jannik Sinner\u2019s US Open withdrawal branded a \u2018shock\u2019 as Annabel Croft makes worrying assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jannik Sinner<\/a>\u2019s withdrawal from the US Open has been described as a \u2018shock\u2019 by former British tennis star and long-time commentator Annabel Croft, who added that his scheduling has perhaps \u2018cost him\u2019 two Grand Slams this season.<\/p>\n

Five weeks ago, the world No 1 looked in phenomenal form by the end of his run to the Wimbledon title, as he extended his sensational win-loss record for the season to 44-3 (93.6%).<\/p>\n

However, after withdrawing from Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati, concern grew surrounding his physical condition.<\/p>\n

Indeed, with less than two weeks to go before the start of the US Open, Sinner<\/a> took to social media to announce that he would be unable to play the North American event after struggling with an ongoing \u2018right knee issue\u2019.<\/p>\n

Shortly following becoming the first man to win all of the season\u2019s first five Masters 1000 events, the Italian similarly looked like an overwhelming favourite to win the French Open. However, he was physically diminished by the intense Parisian heat during his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo.<\/p>\n

Taken together, despite the positive results, the world\u2019s best player will undoubtedly be frustrated that his body has let him down once again ahead of one of the season\u2019s marquee events.<\/p>\n

Croft, who is a long-time tennis commentator after having reached the world\u2019s top 25 in the rankings, weighed in with her analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite a shock to be honest. We knew he hadn\u2019t played the last couple of events and he was resting but that whole idea was to get ready for the US Open,\u201d stated the Brit during a Sky Sports<\/a> segment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big blow to tennis because it feels like a long time ago that we had Alcaraz and Sinner in the events together and it feels like a great loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also underlines how relentless and demanding the tour is physically.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think at the beginning of the year when he won those five back-to-back Masters 1000 titles which was absolutely exceptional and a phenomenal achievement, but when he got to Roland-Garros there was not much left in the tank and it cost him perhaps the French Open title..<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we saw him rebound at Wimbledon which he built with each match but once again his body has let himself down.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all of these players it\u2019s such a difficult balance. You keep trying to play the tour, play the mandatory events but you also want to peak at the Grand Slams and it\u2019s not quite happening at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Tennis News<\/h2>\n

Jannik Sinner sends 106-word message as he becomes 15th US Open withdrawal<\/a><\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s confirmed schedule for the rest of 2026 ahead of his US Open return<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, the news was announced just one day after the Italian\u2019s main rival, Carlos Alcaraz, confirmed that he would return to the tour after a four-month break at the US Open.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard has been out with a wrist injury since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open, but has been boosted by recent practice sessions.<\/p>\n

Sinner and Alcaraz met on six occasions in 2025, including in the final of the season\u2019s final three Grand Slams and the Nitto ATP Finals.<\/p>\n

However, due to injury and a handful of surprising results, the pair\u2019s only clash this year was in the final of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters \u2013 which Sinner won in straight sets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a long time since we had them in the same draw [since Monte Carlo],\u201d the Brit continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have become the new rivalry that everyone wants to see. I really don\u2019t mind watching the same players compete all the time because those are the matches you really look forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like watching a big boxing fight. You want to see the very best go up against each other, but now it\u2019s an opportunity for the next category down to shine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting because it\u2019s a bit of a transitional period at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho knows what will happen when we get them all back together.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ NEXT:\u00a0<\/span>Novak Djokovic lifts lid on \u2018bitterness\u2019 he felt at Australian Open \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t the deportation scandal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Jannik Sinner\u2019s US Open withdrawal branded a \u2018shock\u2019 as Annabel Croft makes worrying assessment<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jannik Sinner\u2019s withdrawal from the US Open has been described as a \u2018shock\u2019 by former British tennis star and long-time commentator Annabel Croft, who added that his scheduling has perhaps \u2018cost him\u2019 two Grand Slams this season. Five weeks ago, the world No 1 looked in phenomenal form by the end of his run to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}