Largely absent from the ATP Masters of which he is the double title holder, the Italian Jannik Sinner revealed that during his long break due to an injury to his right knee he experienced “days” where he “could no longer move”.
“I had days where I didn’t feel anything and could play without any problem, and others where I couldn’t even move,” explained the world No. 2 in a video posted Wednesday evening on YouTube.
“The worst part of this injury for me,” he continued, “is that I can’t compete, I can’t play tennis. Even my life outside of tennis is a little more limited, for the simple reason that I can’t do the things that I really love, because I want to protect my knee as much as possible.
“It’s also difficult to watch other tennis players play and not be able to measure up to them. Especially since the season I had was incredible until everything happened. I went from a very positive season to a very tough end of the season, even though I had a lot of success,” Sinner added.
Sinner has not played again since July 12 and his victory in the final at Wimbledon against the German Alexander Zverev which has since dislodged him from first place in the world.
Winner, in addition to Wimbledon, of five Masters 1000s in a row (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome) this year, Sinner, 25, prematurely ended his 2026 season due to tendinopathy of the right knee and inflammation around the iliotibial band.
In this video, he also reveals that he had tonsil surgery during his forced break and that he had “lost a lot of weight” as a result.
The Italian is expected to make his return to the courts during an exhibition tournament at the end of December in Saudi Arabia. He will now be accompanied in addition to his long-time coach Simone Vagnozzi by the Swede Magnus Norman, former world No. 2, who will succeed the Australian Darren Cahill, in position since 2022.
