BREAKING: Jannik Sinner Withdraws from 2026 US Open Due to Knee Injury
World No 1 Jannik Sinner has announced his withdrawal from the 2026 US Open, citing a persistent right knee injury. This decision marks a significant setback for the season’s final Grand Slam and further impacts the highly anticipated rivalry between Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, which has been diminished by injuries this season.
Jannik Sinner, 2025
World No 1 Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the US Open, he announced on Friday] as a right knee injury continues to keep him off the court. It is a major blow for the season’s final Grand Slam, which loses the game’s dominant player, winner of Wimbledon last month, his latest appearance on court.
“Even though I have been working hard with my team and my medical staff, we have now had to make the difficult decision that I will not be able to compete at the US Open this year,” Sinner said in a statement sent to media. “We have been back on court in Monte-Carlo over the last couple of days and have realised that I still need more time to recover from my right knee issue.
I was very much looking forward to coming back and playing in the electric atmosphere in front of the great fans there.
“I’m obviously very sad and disappointed, as New York has a special place in my heart. I was very much looking forward to coming back and playing in the electric atmosphere in front of the great fans there.” Sinner won the US Open in 2024.
The Italian will now remain in Europe to continue his recovery with his medical and performance teams, with the aim of being ready for the Asian swing and the tournaments in Beijing and Shanghai. The withdrawal follows his withdrawal from the Cincinnati Open, which he also missed with the same knee problem after Montreal.
Sinner’s absence compounds an injury-hit summer at the top of the men’s game, though there is better news on the other side of the rivalry. Carlos Alcaraz, who has not played since injuring his wrist in April and missed Roland-Garros and the entire grass-court swing, including Wimbledon, before pulling out of Cincinnati, confirmed only yesterday that he will return at the US Open. But with Sinner now withdrawing, even Alcaraz’s comeback cannot revive their rivalry in New York: the two will not meet at a Grand Slam in 2026 at all.
In 2026, the Australian Open will have been the only Grand Slam at which both Sinner and Alcaraz featured, and even there, the draw never brought them together, Djokovic defeating Alcaraz in semi-final. They will now end the season without having played each other at a major even once. It is a stark contrast to 2025, when the pair met in three Grand Slam finals in a row between Roland-Garros and the US Open.
