NEW YORK — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdrew from the U.S. Open on Friday, unable to recover from a right knee injury that has sidelined him since winning the Wimbledon title. Sinner beat Alexander Zverev last month for his second straight title at the All England Club, but then pulled out of the hard-court tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati that serve as a warmup for the U.S. Open. The 25-year-old Italian wrote Friday that he won’t be ready when the main draw begins on Aug. 30. “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 U.S. Open this year,” Sinner wrote in a post on X. “We have been back on court in Monte Carlo over the last couple of days and have realized that I still need more time to recover from my right knee issue. 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 was the 2024 U.S. Open champion and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s final. Alcaraz posted on social media on Thursday that he would be ready to play in New York after he has been out of action since April because of a right wrist injury. The rivalry between those two has dominated men’s tennis in recent years, and they met in the last three Grand Slam finals in 2025. Alcaraz took the most recent one with his four-set victory in New York. That ended Sinner’s title reign after he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the 2024 final. Sinner is 44-3 with six titles this year. He had a stunning collapse at the French Open, blowing a two-set lead while struggling in the heat in his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He then sat out until Wimbledon, where his victory gave him five Grand Slam titles. It will be the first time Sinner has missed a Grand Slam tournament since making his major debut at the U.S. Open in 2019. ___ Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press
