“The face is quite dry”: Sinner lost weight after tonsil surgery, still hoping to be back in Australia
In the latest episode of his YouTube series “Jannik Sinner Unfiltered”, the Italian reveals an operation that had never been made public. He also describes a knee that left him, on some days, unable to “move at all”. The video gives no dates and still does not name his knee injury.
Jannik Sinner at work, Monte-Carlo 2026 | © YouTube / Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner has lost weight after having his tonsils removed during his knee layoff, and is still hoping to make his comeback in Australia. The Italian revealed the operation in “Health & Recovery”, the third episode of his Jannik Sinner Unfiltered series, released on his YouTube channel on Wednesday.
Sinner has not played since he beat Alexander Zverev to win Wimbledon on July 12. His team announced on October 6 that his season was over so he could be treated for inflammation in his right knee, ruling him out of the ATP Finals in Turin, where he was the two-time defending champion.
His planned return is the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh, December 27 to 30, which is not officially confirmed.
In the video, he describes a knee that gave no warning. “I had days where I felt nothing and I could play without any problems, and then I had days where I couldn’t move at all. So, very strange,” Sinner said.
The tonsil surgery comes later in the episode. “We are back in Monaco and we are working every day now, trying to build up muscle again,” he said. “I had the tonsils removed some weeks ago and I lost a lot of weight. Maybe you can see it in the face, it’s quite dry. So we did everything now, trying to get back even stronger than before, and hopefully this was the right decision.”
No dates, no diagnosis
The six-minute episode is a montage of scenes filmed at different times, and none of them can be dated with certainty. Sinner says the tonsils were removed “some weeks ago”, without saying when. The video also follows him to Lyon for checks on his knee (“We flew today to Lyon. Tomorrow we have some checks for the knee”), without saying when that trip took place or what the doctors found.
Nor does it confirm the nature of the injury. Sinner and his team have never formally named it. The only detailed account came from media reports in early October, which described a small chondral fissure of the lateral femoral condyle, with reactive synovitis and an inhibition of the quadriceps, as Tennis Majors reported at the time. That account has never been confirmed.
“The long-term game”
Sinner said his season had been “an incredible season until the moment when everything happened”, before turning into “a very tough ending”. “The long-term game is way more important than winning just now,” he added.
His fitness coach, Umberto Ferrara, made the same point in Italian. “Since the start of our collaboration with Jannik, we have never worked towards an immediate goal,” he said. “We always have a medium- to long-term vision. We try to make sure that when he comes back, he comes back at the peak of his physical capabilities.”
Darren Cahill, who will leave Sinner’s team at the end of the season, insisted on the mental side of the rehab. “You’ve got to give yourself some mental breaks as well,” the Australian said. “So being a 25-year-old, going off and having some fun and meeting some people and doing some stuff outside of the sport is really important for him as well, as long as it doesn’t set back his knee.”
Australia in his sights
The episode ends with Sinner looking ahead to the Australian swing. “I miss it so much already now, and I’m not even close to getting on court and playing tennis,” he said. “When I start off again in Australia in front of some fans, I think it’s beautiful.”
Sinner also made a public appearance in Milan this week, at an event for his sponsor Allianz. Asked about his knee, he said he was working every day, following his doctors’ protocols, and hoping to be back in Australia or even earlier.
