Jannik Sinner has retired from the Cincinnati Open final after just five games due to illness.
The Italian was forced to retire from the match down 0-5 against longtime rival Carlos Alcaraz, who empathised with the Italian in his post-match speech.
Alcaraz, who sent a message to his rival on social media after the match, will now travel to New York to compete in the US Open Mixed Doubles tournament alongside Emma Raducanu. Sinner’s participation status in the tournament is now a mystery following his withdrawal in Cincinnati.
Speaking of the Italian, he provided some quotes for the ATP Tour after the match, where he vocalised his disappointment.
This feeling is understandable considering both the loss and Sinner’s physical struggles.
Jannik Sinner reacts to his Cincinnati Open final retirement
While Sinner did not attend a press conference, he did provide quotes for the ATP Tour. In the quotes, the Italian assessed his feelings after a bitter ending to his week in Cincinnati.
The Italian star was candid in expressing his disappointment after the loss.
Sinner said: “Yes, of course, disappointed. Didn’t feel great from yesterday. Also during the night, I thought I would recover a bit better.
“But it was not the case, and I just tried to go out for the fans, trying to give, you know, a match.
“That’s the reason why I went on the court, but it was not meant to be for me today. It happens, but another way, I don’t want to take anything away from Carlos.
“He had a great week, great, great tournament again, and now the main focus, obviously, is for the US Open. Now recovery is the most important, and then we see.”
Jannik Sinner rates his level ahead of the US Open
Sinner also spoke about the level of his play ahead of a crucial US Open campaign, which starts on August 24.
Sinner is the defending US Open Men’s Singles champion, and he will be hoping to add a fifth Grand Slam title to his collection when the tournament ends on September 7.
The Italian star said: “I feel like a very positive week.
“Making finals of a Masters event, it’s always an amazing achievement. I feel like in the season I’m playing, it’s an incredible season.
“So we’ll keep going, keep pushing as I say. Now I have already some points where I need to improve if I want to go far in US Open, and it was a good test this week, trying to understand where my level is.
“My level is in a good spot, for sure, but in the other way, there’s still room to improve. But yeah, it was a great week.”
The Italian now trails Carlos Alcaraz in their head-to-head record by five wins to nine, and by two wins to six on hard courts.
