Jannik Sinner withdrew from the 2024 Italian Open in Rome, admitting in a press conference that he was advised to do so.
Unfortunately, Sinner experienced hip issues at the Madrid Open, where he played a little on it. He played against Karen Khachanov with those issues but was advised to withdraw from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament after the pain got worse between that win and the following clash with Felix Auger-Alaissime.
The Italian Open, which was only days away, was also in the back of his mind, and for good reason. Hip injuries are notoriously tricky to manage, especially the more serious kind, so it made sense for him to pull out and see if he could play in Rome.
There was a lot of hope and enthusiasm from his side about that, but ultimately, it didn't work out. He officially withdrew from the tournament and admitted in a press conference after that, he was advised to do so. He obviously wanted to play, but it's not smart with Roland Garros not too far away.
"Before the Madrid tournament I was even better. In Madrid it was a bit of a strange situation. With Kotov I felt enough pain. With Khachanov the day before the match it was better, but I knew something was wrong."
Many had hoped to see the Italian lift the trophy in Rome, but they will have to wait a bit for that. There will be others to defend the Italian pride, because Sinner's test revealed that he couldn't compete, as he disclosed in the Italian capital
"The next day with the MRI we saw that there was something 100% wrong. We returned to Munich to do other tests: from here we made this difficult decision. Rome is the most special tournament of the year."
"You have to accept it even if it hurts. Some injuries can be prevented, others cannot. I was the first to say let's try to play Roma. However, several people have advised me against it. I don't see it as a defeat."