Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the China Open, meaning the world number one will not defend the Beijing title he won 12 months ago and will extend a lay-off that now stretches beyond 10 weeks. The Italian, who has not hit a competitive ball since beating Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July, confirmed on Friday that his right knee is still not ready for the demands of a tour-level draw.
“My knee is not there where I would like to be and I am not ready to compete yet, but I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can,” Sinner said in a statement released before the ATP 500 event, which runs from 30 September to 6 October.
Beijing becomes the fourth consecutive tournament Sinner has skipped because of the injury, after the Canadian Open, Cincinnati and the US Open. He gave no return date.
A season interrupted at its peak
The timing is what makes this withdrawal sting. Sinner is 44-3 for the season with six titles, and the Wimbledon victory over Zverev was his fifth Grand Slam crown. Before the knee gave way he had also completed the Career Golden Masters, collecting all five of his Masters 1000 wins — Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome — in a run of hard-court and clay dominance that had no obvious counter on tour.
Instead of building on it, he has watched the hard-court swing pass entirely. Zverev won the US Open in New York while Sinner rehabilitated in Europe. He also sat out last week’s Laver Cup at The O2, where Team Europe went without the player who would have been its anchor.
The knee problem is a recovery story rather than a crisis — there has been no surgery announced and no suggestion the season is over — but the repeated postponements tell their own story. Each withdrawal has been framed as caution, and each has arrived close enough to the tournament start to suggest Sinner genuinely expected to play.
Beijing loses its most reliable champion
Few players have owned a hard-court venue in the current era the way Sinner has owned the National Tennis Centre. His record there over three visits reads:
- 2023 — champion
- 2024 — runner-up
- 2025 — champion, beating Learner Tien in straight sets in the final
Losing a two-time champion and defending title holder would gut most draws. Beijing is unusually well insulated. Zverev inherits the top seeding and arrives as the form player of the autumn. Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur and Sinner’s compatriot Flavio Cobolli are all in the field.
The headline act, though, is Novak Djokovic. The 39-year-old returns to Beijing for the first time since 2015, a tournament he has won six times and never lost at. Djokovic comes in ranked 12th after a first-round exit at the US Open, and the vacancy at the top of the draw hands him a route back toward the top 10 that looked far harder a week ago.
The number one ranking is now genuinely at risk
Sinner’s absence is no longer just a competitive inconvenience; it is a mathematical problem. His lead over Zverev in the ATP rankings has shrunk to 1,810 points, down from 5,010 on 31 August, and the German has already moved ahead in the Live Race to Turin, where he holds 8,650 points — a 700-point advantage built on current-season results alone.
The defensive load is the decisive factor. Sinner must protect roughly 3,550 points across the rest of 2026, including Beijing, Vienna, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals. Zverev defends only 1,080 over the same stretch and is scheduled for Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna. Every week Sinner misses, Zverev’s points come off nobody’s board but his own.
The Shanghai Masters, starting on 7 October, is the most likely comeback venue, with the Vienna 500 on 26 October the fallback if the knee needs another fortnight. Both men have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin from 15 to 22 November, which remains the last scheduled meeting point of the season — and, on current trends, the place the year-end ranking will be settled.
Sinner has lost three matches all year. He may yet lose the number one ranking without losing a fourth.
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719 words. Facts verified against ATP Tour, ESPN, NBC Sports, Al Jazeera, Tennis Majors and TNT Sports; saved to `/root/sinner-china-open-0927.html`.
Sources: [ATP Tour](https://www.atptour.com/en/news/sinner-beijing-2026-withdrawal), [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/50026929/jannik-sinner-withdraws-china-open-knee-injury-lingers), [NBC Sports](https://www.nbcsports.com/tennis/news/jannik-sinner-withdraws-from-the-china-open-because-of-lingering-knee-injury), [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/9/25/jannik-sinner-withdraws-from-china-open-as-recovery-from-injury-continues), [Tennis Majors](https://www.tennismajors.com/atp/my-knee-is-not-where-i-would-like-it-to-be-sinner-pulls-out-of-beijing-and-gives-up-the-title-he-won-last-year-861748.html), [Last Word on Sports](https://lastwordonsports.com/tennis/2026/09/25/jannik-sinner-beijing/), [TNT Sports](https://www.tntsports.co.uk/tennis/atp-beijing/2026/novak-djokovic-china-open-return-absence_sto23337957/story.shtml)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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