Sinner confirms his intention to skip a grass warm-up for the first time of his career, open the door to a return at the Canadian Open
Jannik Sinner will skip a grass-court warm-up event for the first time of his career, going straight from his Roland-Garros second-round exit to a recovery block and then to Wimbledon. He confirmed that it’s his intention.
Jannik Sinner, Roland-Garros 2026 | © Cryslène Caillaud / PsNewz
For the first time since he has the rankings to play Wimbledon, Jannik Sinner will not play a competitive tune-up match on grass before the third Grand Slam of the year. The world No. 1 confirmed on Thursday, hours after the second-round defeat that cost him the one major missing from his career, that he intends to go straight from his Paris exit into a recovery block and then on to the All England Club, with no preparation event in between.
“I won’t play any tournament on grass before, most likely,” he said in Paris. “Now I need really some time off, recover completely, also mentally, and then be ready to go again for Wimby.” His intention not to play any ATP grass tournament had been set in Rome two weeks ago.
It is a break with how he has run the last two Junes. Halle has been his fixture: he reached the semi-finals there in 2023, won his maiden grass-court title at the German ATP 500 in 2024, then went back to defend it in 2025, losing in the quarter-finals to Alexander Bublik.
Last year’s Halle quarter-final was the platform for the first Wimbledon title of his career a month later. Skipping the warm-up in 2026 means starting something new in his season management. Since 2019, he played one or two warm-up tournament to get used to the naturals surface.
“There are still plenty to play this year.”
The North American block is where he has more chancees to rebuild. “After Wimby we have important tournaments coming up – Canadian Open, Cincinnati and US Open,” he said. “There are still plenty to play this year.”
The Canadian Open is in Toronto in 2026, with Montreal hosting the women. Sinner did not play it last year — he, Alcaraz and Djokovic all withdrew from the 2025, citing a packed calendar after Wimbledon. This tournament in August should be his next opportunity to win ATP points in more than two months.
The cost is 1,250 points
Roland-Garros’s loss costs him 1,250 points, the difference between last year’s runner-up haul in Paris and this year’s second-round 50. That brings him to being World No.1 with roughly 13,500. Alcaraz, absent from Roland-Garros with a wrist injury, drops the 2,000 from his 2025 title for nothing – leaving him at roughly 9,960.
Sinner’s framing of all this was level. “I always try to look at the positive side. If you watch the whole clay swing, very well. Played really, really, really good, winning three tournaments in a row on clay.” Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome formed the spine of a 37-3 season after Paris. “I just need my time now to process what went wrong here,” he said, “positive also that we can put in good practice weeks. There are still plenty to play this year.”
