Browsing: Sinner

Oct 21, 2025, 07:28 AM ET

ROME — Jannik Sinner’s decision not to play for host Italy in the Davis Cup Final 8 is being met with a sense of abandonment in his home country — where he was fiercely defended during his doping case earlier this year.

The second-ranked Sinner, who led Italy to tennis’ biggest team trophy the past two years, said that he prefers to prepare for next season instead of helping the Azzurri aim for another title in Bologna next month.

“It wasn’t an easy decision, but after Turin [where the ATP Finals are played the week before the Davis Cup], the goal is to start off on the right foot in Australia,” Sinner said, referring to the Australian Open, where he is the two-time defending champion.

“It doesn’t seem like it, but a week of preparation in that period can make a difference,” Sinner told Sky Italia on Monday from Vienna, where he is playing this week. “We already won the Davis Cup in 2023 and 2024 and this time we decided like this with my team.”

The front-page headline in Tuesday’s Gazzetta dello Sport translated to: “Sinner, think it over again.”

An accompanying editorial in the Gazzetta took Sinner to task for saying he already won the Davis Cup twice, pointing out how he also defended his title over the weekend in a lucrative exhibition in Saudi Arabia.

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“So you’re not going to return to Riyadh for another $6 million? If you win another Wimbledon, you won’t go to London anymore? Pasta, coffee … Every five minutes you promote an Italian product. Do it with tennis, too,” the Gazzetta editorial said, referring to the multiple Italian brands that Sinner represents in TV and other advertisements.

Added 92-year-old Nicola Pietrangeli, a two-time French Open winner who was Italy’s most successful player until Sinner came along: “It’s a big slap in the face to the Italian sports world.”

Italians widely defended Sinner when he was hit with a three-month doping ban in February, while other top players insinuated that he received preferential treatment because of his high status and the time frame of the ban meant that he didn’t miss any Grand Slam tournaments.

It’s not the first time that Sinner has been criticized for not representing Italy. It happened when he didn’t play Davis Cup in 2023 and it happened when he didn’t play in the Paris Olympics a year later.

Sinner grew up in the German-speaking autonomous region of Alto Adige in northern Italy and has also faced an underlying sentiment that he’s not fully Italian.

Just last month, an Italian rapper was accused of inciting racial hatred for publishing musical lyrics saying that Sinner speaks with “Adolf Hitler’s accent.” Fedez, the rapper, later apologized.

Adriano Panatta, who led Italy to its only other Davis Cup triumph in 1976, defended Sinner’s choice, noting how the team competition is not considered as important as it was in his playing days.

“Today’s tennis requires players to have complete devotion. The players are like CEOs of companies that carry their names,” Panatta wrote in Corriere della Sera. “Sinner has won the Davis Cup twice and now he needs a break to gear up for his main goals: winning Slams, playing up to [Carlos] Alcaraz’s level, reclaiming No. 1. Those are his priorities.”

Paolo Bertolucci, who also played on the 1976 team and is now a TV commentator, agreed with Panatta.

“I don’t see anything wrong with the decision,” Bertolucci told the Gazzetta. “Tennis has changed. Today what counts are the four Slams and then the ATP Finals. The rest is side stuff.”

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Jannik Sinner claimed a commanding victory over rival Carlos Alcaraz to win the lucrative Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Sinner, replaced as world number one by Alcaraz following the US Open in September, exacted revenge for his defeat in the New York final with a 6-2 6-4 win.

With his victory, the Italian, 24, earned a reported $6m (£4.5m) – including $4.5m (£3.4m) in prize money, in addition to a $1.5m (£1.1m) participation fee.

While the pair split the four Grand Slam titles between them this season, Sinner was dominant from the outset against Alcaraz, who said his opponent was “just too good” on Saturday.

Sinner broke Alcaraz’s serve in the opening game and swiftly wrapped up the first set, with the Spaniard unable to gain a foothold against his opponent’s clinical serving.

He would go on to win the exhibition event for the second consecutive year after making the decisive breakthrough in the seventh game of the second set.

“I wish I could play like this everywhere,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.

“This season we played many, many times and I also lost many times to Carlos. It is a huge pleasure and honour to share the court with him.

“At the same time, you want to get better as a player and you need rivalries in the sport. So it’s nice to have a great rivalry and more importantly a great friendship off the court.

“We have a very special friendship and it’s very nice.”

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Oct 14, 2025, 11:15 AM ET

There are some tennis fans who wonder why top players who complain about how crowded the sport’s calendar is would add an in-season exhibition like the Six Kings Slam, which starts Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, to their schedule.

Taylor Fritz can think of millions of reasons. Well, 6 million, to be precise.

“I’d love for them to show me a tournament where you can go play three matches — well, for the top two seeds, two matches — and potentially make $6 million,” Fritz said during a video interview from Riyadh on Tuesday. “I’d love to hear that from them.”

Well, then.

Fritz is one of six men scheduled to participate in the second edition of the Six Kings Slam. That includes Jannik Sinner, who is back after walking away with the check for that top prize a year ago in Saudi Arabia — more than any real tournament offers to the champion. The US Open’s recent $5 million payout to the women’s and men’s singles winners set the Grand Slam record.

This event is part of the kingdom’s recent big steps into tennis — and vice versa — including the WTA Finals in Riyadh, the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jedda and the Public Investment Fund’s sponsorship of the tours’ rankings. Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have been among the critics of the sport’s ties to Saudi Arabia because of concerns about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights there.

For the Six Kings Slam, each player is guaranteed an appearance fee of reportedly $1.5 million; the last one standing gets a bonus that brings his total to four times that for the matches being shown live on Netflix.

“The money is nothing we’re trying to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it wasn’t a motivation,” said Sinner, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year and was the runner-up to rival Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open and U.S. Open. “Every player here will try to win as many matches as possible. It’s like any other exhibition – except here there is a bit more motivation.”

Sinner quit playing during his most recent match, 1½ weeks ago at the Shanghai Masters, because of severe leg cramps. But he said Tuesday he’s fine.

“I recovered. We took a few days off to rest and now we’re ready for the rest of the season,” said Sinner, who noted he has not decided whether to try to help Italy win a third consecutive Davis Cup title next month. “Mentally I’m in good shape … and will give 100%.”

He meets Stefano Tsitsipas on Day 1, when Fritz will face Alexander Zverev. The Fritz-Zverev winner takes on Alcaraz on Thursday, and the Sinner-Tsitsipas winner goes up against Novak Djokovic. After taking Friday off, the semifinal winners will play each other Saturday to close things.

Djokovic owns a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam trophies, Alcaraz has six, and Sinner has four; each also has been ranked No. 1.

Fritz was the runner-up to Sinner at the 2024 US Open. Zverev is a three-time major finalist, including losses to Sinner at this year’s Australian Open and Alcaraz at last year’s French Open. Tsitsipas was twice the runner-up to Djokovic at Slams.

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Exhibitions are meant to promote the sport and take it to new audiences. Organisers want the best players in the world to feature because they will sell more tickets.

Roger Federer played Rafael Nadal in Cape Town in 2020 in front of 51,954 fans – a reported record, external for a tennis crowd at the time, albeit not an official match.

Alcaraz – a gifted, highly entertaining shot-maker – plays a lot of exhibitions.

He faced Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe in New York and North Carolina respectively at the start of the year

Alcaraz and Tiafoe also took part in an event in Puerto Rico, and are scheduled to play alongside Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova in New Jersey in December.

The Spaniard has also been vocal about the strain of the increasingly packed calendar, saying in 2024 they are “going to kill us in some way”.

When asked last year about playing so many exhibitions, Alcaraz said: “I have seen that many people talk about my calendar because I have put many exhibitions [in].

“But you have to separate the calendar and the exhibitions – they are different things.”

Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero believes, external the style of play at exhibitions – which tend to be about entertainment, rather than winning – helps his charge relax.

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Bates was on tour between 1980 and 1996. He rarely played on a slow court.

“In that period of time, there were two completely separate tours,” he explained.

“You had all the players who played on the clay, and then you had everyone else who played on the fast courts and the only time you would see the clay court players would be at the French [Open] and the only time we would see them would be at Wimbledon and the other Slams.

“All the indoor courts we played on were super slick. It was a question of how quick you could get to the net.”

“Most of the top 20 were serve-volleying. Some were playing from the back of the court. That’s what actually made it interesting to watch because you had two completely contrasting game styles, and now you are in a situation where the vast majority of players you watch just cancel each other out.”

Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, says the move to slow down the courts “killed a generation of serve and volley players”.

“But I think it is better for the game because otherwise you would have too many aces and serve winners, which I think is very boring,” he said.

“If you think about it, tennis is very slow. Ace is one second of play, and 30 seconds of wait on tour, which is crazy when you think about it – especially in today’s world when consumers don’t wait that much, and when there is no action you lose them.

And what if the Cincinnati tournament tried to increase their court speed still further?

“We would hear it, we would definitely hear it from the players,” Moran continued.

“I think we were a little bit faster than normal last year. Players were telling us we were wicked fast last year – almost like ice. I don’t know if we could get much faster than we were last year.”

“In my mind great points, point construction, rallies – I think that’s what the fans are looking for.”

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Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his third-round match at the Shanghai Masters against Tallon Griekspoor, the 27th seed, after suffering from cramps in humid conditions while trailing the Dutchman 6-7 (3), 7-5, 3-2 on.

In the final weeks of a long, arduous season for all, the conditions in Shanghai have been severe this past week, particularly on Sunday as players tried to compete in 90% humidity. Many struggled badly.

Being scheduled in the night session offered little solace for Sinner, the world No 2, who was dragged into a third set by a tenacious Griekspoor. By the third set, Sinner had physically deteriorated, visibly cramping and limping badly before he had no choice but to retire.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win,†said Griekspoor. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were still a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours, 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set. Sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.â€

Carlos Alcaraz, the world No 1, withdrew from Shanghai before the tournament because of the ankle injury he suffered at the beginning of his title run in Tokyo earlier this week, meaning Sinnerâ€s retirement presents a great opportunity for the rest of the field, including Novak Djokovic, who edged into the round of 16 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Yannick Hanfmann of Germany.

Elsewhere, Amanda Anisimova continued to put together an incredible breakthrough season as she followed up her success at the grand slam tournaments by clinching the biggest title of her career with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win over Linda Noskova in Beijing.

Anisimova has now won two WTA 1000 titles at the China Open and Qatar Open alongside reaching two grand slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open this year. Having been ranked as low as No 41 in February, she sits at No 4 in the WTA rankings and No 3 in the WTA race. She has now qualified for the WTA Finals in Riyadh for the first time in her career.

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Her progress over the past nine days has been particularly satisfying considering she underwent wisdom tooth surgery on the day she flew out to Beijing: “Itâ€s been quite a few weeks for me here, for sure,†she said. “I feel like Iâ€ve learned a lot about myself. I think I can take a lot of positives and look at it as a lot of progress for me just figuring out ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when it feels like I canâ€t go any further. I feel like in that sense I learned that Iâ€m stronger than I think. Thatâ€s a huge win for me.â€

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SHANGHAI — Big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard upset fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5 and advanced to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, while defending champion Jannik Sinner retired due to severe leg cramps.

After taking the opening set, Sinner, who won the China Open in Beijing, trailed 7-6 (3), 5-7, 2/3 against Tallon Griekspoor when he abandoned the match in humid conditions.

Sinner massaged his right thigh during the decider.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win,” Griekspoor said. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours and 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set … I’m sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his match Sunday at the Shanghai Masters due to severe leg cramps. Photo by Hu Chengwei/Getty Images

Mpetshi Perricard sent down 12 aces, to Fritz’s nine, and took a break in each set as he clinched his first tour victory against the American to set up a last-16 meeting with 10th-seeded Holger Rune.

Also Sunday, Novak Djokovic was made to work hard before he rallied past German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Djokovic struggled to cope with Hanfmann’s big serve and excellent play at the net. He’ll be up against Jaume Munar in the next round. Djokovic was sick during the second set and threw up during a changeover.

“It’s the same for every player out on the court, but it’s brutal,” Djokovic said of the conditions. “It’s brutal when you have over 80 percent of humidity day after day, particularly for the guys when they’re playing during the day with heat, with sun, it’s even more brutal.”

Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending fifth title at the Shanghai Masters.

Rune beat 21st-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4, Zizou Bergs upset 19th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (1), 6-3 and the 31st-seeded Gabriel Diallo advanced by walkover after David Goffin retired early in the first set.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Japan Open last week, is not in Shanghai due to minor ailments.

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Alexander Zverev thinks that tournament organizers throughout the sport of tennis are rigging the courts to ensure that Carlos Alcarez and Jannik Sinner have deep runs.

Speaking on the court after his win over Valentin Royer at the Shanghai Masters, Zverev claimed that tournament directors were taking variety out of the types of courts to help Alcaraz and Sinner because they “prefer” them having success:

“I hate when it’s the same, to be honest. I think the tournament directors are going towards that direction because, obviously, they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that’s what they prefer. Nowadays, you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don’t like it. I’m not a fan of it. I think tennis needs different game styles, tennis needs a little bit of variety, and I think we’re lacking that right now.”

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

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Alexander Zverev says tournament organizers are slowing down tennis courts to favor Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Zverev, the world No. 3, overcame an injury scare to beat Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4 at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday but then voiced his displeasure with the way he felt the sport was heading.

“I hate when it’s the same, to be honest,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “I think the tournament directors are going towards that direction because, obviously, they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that’s what they prefer.

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“Nowadays, you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don’t like it. I’m not a fan of it. I think tennis needs different game styles, tennis needs a little bit of variety, and I think we’re lacking that right now.”

Alcaraz and Sinner are the only two players to hold the No. 1 ranking since June 2024. They split this year’s four Grand Slams, and both are coming off title wins — Sinner at the China Open and Alcaraz at the Japan Open — though Alcaraz is missing the Shanghai Masters because of a left ankle injury.

Zverev had to be treated on court for a toe injury when serving for the match at 5-4, but it did not halt his progress.

“I landed funny on my toe, and after that I could barely do a step, so we’ll see what it is,” he said. “We will see if I will ever be healthy this year again, because it’s been a struggle, but I’m happy to be through.”

PA contributed to this report.

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BEIJING — Jannik Sinner won the China Open by beating American teenager Learner Tien 6-2, 6-2 in Wednesday’s final to continue his preparations for the Shanghai Masters.

Sinner rebounded from his US Open disappointment by winning his third title of the season — and 21st altogether — with a dominant performance against the 19-year-old Tien, the second-youngest player to reach the tournament’s final.

“We will try to improve and push for more and let’s see what the rest of the season looks like, but I am very happy,” Sinner said.

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Sinner next goes to Shanghai, where he will be the favorite after Carlos Alcaraz withdrew because of an ankle injury sustained in the first round of the Japan Open, which he won Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Sinner won his 11th straight match against Alex de Minaur in their China Open semifinal. Sinner’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory took him to a ninth straight final at hard-court tournaments.

Tien, ranked No. 52, was playing in his first tour final after Daniil Medvedev retired injured when the score was 5-7, 7-5, 4-0 on Tuesday.

The ATP event in Beijing ran concurrently with the WTA 1000 tournament, which is into the fourth round and ends Sunday. Among those playing their fourth-round matches later Wednesday were top-seeded Iga Swiatek and fifth-seeded Jessica Pegula.

Second-seeded Coco Gauff has already qualified for the quarterfinals, which she is scheduled to play against Eva Lys on Thursday.

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