Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz’s Injury Problems Are Giving Rennae Stubbs ‘Very Big Anxiety’

Both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will not be competing at the Cincinnati Masters this year because of injury issues. Alcaraz was last seen in action at the Barcelona Open, during which he injured his wrist.

Sinner, after withdrawing from the Canadian Open, skipped the Cincinnati Masters due to knee injury issues. Both Sinner and Alcaraz played in the final last year in the Ohio event, where the former competed as the defending champion, but he handed the walkover to the Spaniard due to an illness.

Serena Williams’ coach Rennae Stubbs is worried about how Sinner and Alcaraz would perform at the US Open without match practice.

This is a major problem. Alcaraz’s wrist is such a concern for me. I had a wrist injury. It gives me very big anxiety about him going forward. We can just say [Juan Martin] Del Potro, and it’s not a good feeling. The wrist is the worst thing to have as a tennis player, clearly.

Rennae Stubbs said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

Sinner and Alcaraz played the US Open final last year. The Italian ace couldn’t defend his title, losing in four sets to Sinner. The South Tyrol native had the chance to complete the Golden Slam, but he chose to skip the Canadian Open before the knee injury forced him to pull out of Cincinnati.

If you can’t hit the ball, you can’t play. But this is a problem for Jannik Sinner, a knee issue that he said he, and listen- he pulled out of Canada, I would suspect, because he just wanted more time. But this is definitely concerning. Because at Cincinnati, every player knows they need to play matches on hard court to get used to the balls and the conditions to be able to play best of five sets at the US Open.

Rennae Stubbs added

Sinner and Alcaraz met just once this season. In the Monte-Carlo Masters final, the five-time Grand Slam champion beat Alcaraz in the final and dethroned him from the No.1 spot on the rankings table.

Rennae Stubbs thinks Ben Shelton should capitalize on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s absence

Because Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are not playing, Rennae Stubbs told Ben Shelton to capitalize on this opportunity and defend his title at the Canadian Open. Shelton has reached the semifinal and has set up a clash with compatriot Learner Tien.

What is next for Ben? After such a great match, now having to dig in and see because this is an opportunity for somebody to start winning tournaments and say, ‘Okay, am I the 3rd guy?’ Winning Canada, then going to Cincinnati, and then winning those tournaments because neither of Alcaraz or Sinner are going to be there again. No more excuses, guys. Two best players in the world are not playing. So, who is gonna step up?

Rennae Stubbs said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

Before this tournament, Shelton had failed to reach the fourth round of a Masters 1000 tournament this season. Last year, he defeated Karen Khachanov to win the biggest title of his career.

The winner of the Shelton versus Tien will face Brandon Nakashima or Spanish sensation Rafael Jodar in the final. Shelton has so far played three finals, winning all.

He won the Dallas Open by beating Taylor Fritz, before defeating Flavio Cobolli at the BMW Open. Then in Stuttgart, Shelton clinched his career’s first grass-court title by upsetting defending champion Fritz. Apart from Shelton, none of the semifinalists have yet won a Big Title. Jodar is chasing his second title of the season after his win in Marrakech.

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