World No.1 Sinner delays return with China Open withdrawal

World No.1 Jannik Sinner delayed his return to the courts when he withdrew from next week's China Open in Beijing on Friday having been out of action since his Wimbledon title in July due to a right knee injury.

"I won't be able to play in Beijing this year. My knee is not there where I would like it to be and I'm not ready to compete yet but I will do everything possible to be there as soon as I can," the Italian defending champion said on X.

The five-time Grand Slam winner has not played since winning Wimbledon on July 12, pulling out of the US Open last month.

Sinner, 25, had been dominating the 2026 season with an impressive record of 44 wins against three losses and six titles won, including Wimbledon.

However, he suffered a major disappointment at the French Open, where he arrived as the overwhelming favourite but crashed out in the second round after suffering in a heatwave.

The absence of the tour's top player in Beijing increases the chances for his closest rival, Alexander Zverev, to move to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time by the end of the season.

At the moment, 1,810 points separate the world's top two players. But that gap will shrink by at least 440 points in the next ATP rankings.

Sinner also has significantly more points to defend than the German between now and the end of the season, since in 2025 he won the ATP 500 events in Beijing and Vienna, the Paris Masters 1000 and the ATP Finals in Turin, which award 1,500 points to the winner.

Zverev, 29, was far less effective at the end of last season and will therefore be able to rack up more points than Sinner in the year's final tournaments.

Having won the first two Grand Slam titles of his career in 2026, at Roland Garros and the US Open, Zverev reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the final at Wimbledon, the German is enjoying the best season of his career.

He is entered in tournaments in Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna over the coming weeks.