Jannik Sinner’s Controversial Fitness Trainer Umberto Ferrara Faces Heat from Fans After Shanghai Masters Withdrawal – “Rehiring Him Was Dumb”

Jannik Sinner will next be playing the Vienna Open, which he won in 2023 by beating Daniil Medvedev.

Jannik Sinner’s Controversial Fitness Trainer Umberto Ferrara Faces Heat from Fans After Shanghai Masters Withdrawal – “Rehiring Him Was Dumb”

Jannik Sinner, Umberto Ferrara (Image via X/Swish Tennis, The Sinner Times)

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Fitness problems spoiled Jannik Sinner‘s title defense in Shanghai. On Sunday (October 5), Sinner was up against Tallon Griekspoor when, after winning a point, he clasped his knee.

He eventually was forced to retire mid-match. The 24-year-old was limping while he was trying to walk to his chair and used his racket for support before he was helped by a physio.

Here’s the video:

Sinner was bidding to win his fourth title of the season after his victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the China Open. The Italian last year clinched his first Shanghai Masters title by beating Novak Djokovic, who he could have played had both of them reached the semifinals.

As he retired, he also missed the chance of narrowing the rankings gap, and Sinner’s withdrawal was an advantage to his arch-rival, Carlos Alcaraz, if the rankings are considered. Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament, citing an ankle injury.

After his victory at the Japan Open and his withdrawal from the Shanghai Masters, the Spaniard had 11,340 points in the live rankings. Sinner at present has 10,000 points, losing 950 points because of his failure to defend the Shanghai title.

Fans want Jannik Sinner to fire Umberto Ferrara after his Shanghai Masters withdrawal

Another mid-match retirement has now frustrated Jannik Sinner and tennis fans in general, as they are demanding the removal of fitness trainer Umberto Ferrara from his team. Ferrara, who was fired by Sinner last year because of the doping scandal, re-hired him after his Wimbledon win.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

Many are accusing Ferrara of not doing his job properly, given that Sinner retired mid-match for the second time since he re-added Ferrara to his team (the first was in the Cincinnati Masters final).

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Before re-hiring Ferrara, the four-time Grand Slam champion had fired both fitness trainer Marco Panichi and physio Ulises Badio just a few days before the start of Wimbledon. Sinner added Panichi and Badio (both of whom also worked with Novak Djokovic) to his team after parting ways with Ferrara and physio Giacomo Naldi last year.

Ferrara had bought the contaminated spray from Italy, and Naldi had used it on his finger for a minor injury. During a physiotherapy session, the spray containing the banned anabolic steroid clostebol contaminated the Italian tennis ace.

China Open provided Jannik Sinner with a private jet for Shanghai

The China Open ended in Sinner and Amanda Anisimova‘s favor in their respective categories. Sinner breezed past Learner Tien, while Anisimova beat Linda Noskova in three sets. Later, China Open co-tournament director Lars Graff addressed the press and revealed that to save Sinner and Tien’s time, the two players flew to Shanghai on a private jet provided by the tournament.

Jannik Sinner US Open 2025
Jannik Sinner (image via Corrine Dubreuil)

After the singles final, we made the possibility for Mr. Sinner, his team, and for Learner Tien to get the private flight from here to the next tournament, which they really appreciated. They thought that was a very good thing we did.

Tien has reached the third round and will lock horns with Britain’s Cameron Norrie. He won his previous two matches, against Miomir Kecmanovic and Corentin Moutet, in straight sets.

The players also are very happy with the spectators because they see that there is no country in the world that has more enthusiastic spectators than China Open. The players are taking more pictures. Sinner says he takes more pictures in one week in Beijing than he does for six months in Europe because everybody wants to have a picture with Sinner either privately or when he’s practicing, signing autographs. The crowd is very enthusiastic.

Lars Graff added

Sinner is next scheduled to play the Vienna Open, which starts on October 20. His participation in the tournament is uncertain because of his injury.

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