Jannik Sinner has pulled out of the US Open mixed doubles event after struggling with illness and retiring from his Cincinnati Open final against Carlos Alcaraz after just five games on Monday.
The World No 1 said he started to feel ill on Sunday and through the night but thought he would have recovered to face Alcaraz in the final, although his condition worsened and he retired trailing 5-0 in the first set.
“Yesterday I didn’t feel great and I’m really sorry to disappoint you,” Sinner said in a post on social media. “Thank you so much to everyone supporting me on-site and from home, your support means the world.
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“Congrats to Carlos Alcaraz and his team, you’re having an incredible season and I wish you all the best for what’s ahead. Now it’s time to rest a couple of days before getting back to work.”
Sinner had only confirmed his place in the new-look US Open mixed doubles event, where he was set to partner doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova, earlier on Monday – ahead of the afternoon Cincinnati Open final.
Even if Sinner had been fit, the scheduling left a short turnaround before the start of the 16-team mixed doubles tournament in New York on Tuesday, where Sinner and Siniakova were drawn to play Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic.
Sinner and Siniakova have been replaced by the American duo of Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison, after the US Open said Sinner and Siniakova’s place in the draw “will be filled by an alternate team with the highest combined singles ranking” that signed up to play.
Sinner, 24, had suggested he would not play in the new mixed doubles event shortly after retiring from the Cincinnati Open final, telling the ATP that he was turning his focus to a “couple of days of recovery” before the start of the singles competition.
As Alcaraz’s Cincinnati Open final lasted just 24 minutes, the Spaniard is set to be fresh to partner Emma Raducanu in their opening match against British men’s No 1 Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula, who are the top seeds in the draw based on combined singles ranking.
And Iga Swiatek, who defeated Jasmine Paolini in the women’s Cincinnati Open final on Monday evening, will also play in the mixed doubles with Casper Ruud after travelling to New York on the same plane as Alcaraz and arriving in time to compete.
Alcaraz and Raducanu, who are both previous US Open champions, are one of the star-studded singles players to be paired together for the controversially revamped event, which carries $1m in prize money.
Sinner was partnered with Siniakova after top-10 player Emma Navarro decided to enter another warm-up event in singles before the start of the US Open main draw on Sunday.
A greater concern for Sinner will be whether the 24-year-old is fit to start his US Open singles campaign in Flushing Meadows, but the defending champion did allay fears that he had picked up an injury before the grand slam by confirming he had been struck down by illness.
“Usually I start with the opponent but today I have to start with you guys [the crowd],” Sinner said during the peculiar trophy ceremony, as Alcaraz was crowned the champion in strange scenes in Cincinnati.
“I’m super super sorry to disappoint you. From yesterday I didn’t feel great. I thought I would improve during the night. It came up worse. I tried to come out and make it at least a small match but I couldn’t handle more. I’m very very sorry for all of you. I know some of you on Monday maybe had to work or do something else, so I’m very, very sorry.”
