Jannik Sinner won't be able to compete at the 2024 Paris Masters, announcing his withdrawal from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
The 23-year-old Italian played plenty of matches this year, even though he didn't play that many tournaments. The reason for that is simple: he succeeded at the vast majority of the events he played.
Luckily for Sinner, his health also held up, and he wasn't forced to miss too many events. One of the tournaments he missed was the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
He was forced to withdraw from the Paris Olympics because of tonsillitis, and now, he won't be able to play at the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season either.
He currently holds over a 4,000-point lead over second Carlos Alcaraz in the rankings, so his World No. 1 rank on the ATP Tour won't come under threat, but having to withdraw was certainly disappointing for the top seed.
He had a brutal draw in Paris, having to possibly take on Ben Shelton in the second round of the tournament, but he won't have to worry about that anymore.
Now, Sinner's focus will be on getting healthy, as an illness forced him out of the tournament. Announcing the news, the was clearly disappointed.
"I'm very disappointed to tell you that I'm not able to play here in this tournament. I came very early here to prepare. But I fell sick, I'm having a virus at the moment, which is going to last the next two-three days, so body-wise, I'm not ready to compete."
"I'm very, very, very sorry for that. But, see you guys all next year. And hopefully, it's going to be a great year also this year without me, and then hopefully also next year."
Announcing his withdrawal, Sinner mentioned that he didn't feel well already after his first practice session and that he talked to a doctor after that to figure out what was wrong with him.
"After the first practice session, I really didn't felt good. You know, I also talked with the doctor on Sunday, you know, it's a virus, what makes you feel better in three, four days."
Although he already felt better when announcing the withdrawal, as a professional that he is, Sinner knew that he wouldn't be in a state to compete at his highest level, and that's why he chose to withdraw.
"Today I feel better already a little bit, but the body is not ready to compete and feel still very, very weak. It doesn't make sense to go on court and trying to compete for this tournament."
"Yeah, very disappointed, because, you know, it's a tournament where I would like to see where my level is at. That was one of my main goals for this week, but yeah, unfortunately I cannot make this happen."
The Italian player was also asked about whether his withdrawal was tied to the upcoming ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals. The ATP Finals will be held in Turin, Italy, from November 10th to 17th, so it's clear that he will want to compete in front of the home crowd.
Sinner admitted that while competing at the ATP Finals will be his main goal, his focus right now will be on properly recovering instead of planning his calendar.
"Yeah, I mean, now, for sure, the most important part is to recover and get back physically 100%. You know, maybe the next three, four days, I feel better and then I can start again to practice, and of course the main goal is going to be Turin. But, you know, now at the moment, much more important to see how I feel in the next days, and then hopefully I'm going to be ready for Turin."
While Sinner's withdrawal will certainly be disappointing for him and his fans, some fans in Paris might be happy that home player Arthur Cazaux will replace him in the draw as a lucky loser.
0 Comments