Sinner pulls out of Shanghai as knee problem extends his absence

The wait for Jannik Sinner's return goes on. The world No. 1 has withdrawn from the Rolex Shanghai Masters because of the knee injury that has kept him off the court since he won Wimbledon in July. He confirmed the decision in an Instagram story on Saturday, so the season's last Masters 1000 swing in Asia will go ahead without the man who has dominated the tour in 2026.

"Unfortunately I won't be able to play at the Rolex Shanghai Masters this year as I had hoped," Sinner wrote. "I always enjoy playing in front of the Shanghai fans and I'm very sorry that I won't be able to do so next week."

Three months on the sidelines

Shanghai joins a long list of events Sinner has missed. The 25-year-old skipped the whole North American hard-court swing, including the US Open, and also withdrew from the ATP 500 in Beijing. Tennis Majors, citing Italian journalist Gabriele Parpiglia, reports that the problem is iliotibial band syndrome. In that condition the band of tissue running down the outside of the thigh rubs over the knee and causes inflammation. Sinner has not given his own diagnosis.

The absence stands out because of how strongly his season began. Sinner is 44-3 in 2026. He won the Masters 1000 titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome, which completed his Career Golden Masters, and then took his fifth major title at Wimbledon. He won Shanghai in 2024, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

Zverev's chance to become No. 1

The withdrawal matters most for Alexander Zverev. The German won both Roland Garros and the US Open this year. After New York he moved ahead of Sinner in the Race to Turin, but he was still behind him in the PIF ATP Rankings. Tennis Majors puts Sinner on 11,000 points and Zverev on 9,670. Sinner has only 50 points to defend in Shanghai, so Zverev can still reach No. 1 for the first time during the Shanghai fortnight.

Zverev outhits De Minaur to reach first Shanghai semi-final since 2019

Zverev's own week did not help. When Sinner withdrew, Al Jazeera said the clearest route for Zverev was to win both Beijing and Shanghai. One day later, the top seed lost his Beijing quarter-final to Djokovic, who came back from a set down and improved his record at the China Open to 32-0. That defeat means Shanghai is now Zverev's only chance to close the gap during the Asian swing.

A strong field without the No. 1

The main draw at Shanghai starts on 7 October, with qualifying under way. Defending champion Valentin Vacherot returns to the event he won as a qualifier last year. Four-time champion Djokovic, Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz are also entered. Djokovic and Alcaraz were both still playing on Monday, in the Beijing and Tokyo semi-finals respectively.

According to Tennis Majors, Sinner's next scheduled events are the ATP 500 in Vienna, starting on 24 October, then the Paris Masters, the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals. Sinner has strong records at all of them, but his No. 1 ranking could already be gone by the time he plays again.