Paolo Bertolucci Questions Grueling Demands of Modern Tennis After Jannik Sinner’s US Open Withdrawal: “It Needs to Be Fixed”

What perhaps many had anticipated has now come to pass. Jannik Sinner will not be playing at the US Open. Sinner, who was last seen in action in the final of Wimbledon, is nursing a knee injury. The 25-year-old is not the only high-profile player who will skip the tournament, as Jack Draper and Holger Rune have also withdrawn.

Draper has been suffering from a persistent arm injury since last year, and although he has returned, he is now just a shadow of his former self. Rune tore his Achilles tendon during the Stockholm Open last year and has yet to play a competitive match.

Then there’s Carlos Alcaraz, who injured his wrist during the Barcelona Open and has yet to return to the court. But he has confirmed his participation at the US Open. Retired Italian player Paolo Bertolucci thinks the physical demands of tennis need to be blamed, saying players are forced into intense training and, as a consequence, they end up on the sidelines.

From Jack Draper, who won’t be able to play in the US Open, to Holger Rune, who’s been out for many months. Young players on the rise: and yet… This should make us reflect on what tennis has become physically: the protagonists are forced into increasingly grueling training.

Paolo Bertolucci wrote in his column for La Gazzetta dello Sport

Bertolucci also thinks Sinner ended up succumbing to injury because of the non-stop tennis he played during the summer.

Probably, looking back, there’s the aftermath, the long wave of all those consecutive tournaments that has come calling on the body. That could very well be the reason for the Paris stumble and this latest stop, even if we can’t know for sure. The reflection to make is this: scheduling is worth as much as a shot. It needs to be fixed, sorted out.

Paolo Bertolucci added

He competed in the first five Masters 1000s, winning them all, and ended up completing the Career Golden Masters after his win in Rome.

And then at the French Open, he crashed out after a five-set defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. He prioritized rest and recovery before Wimbledon by skipping the warm-up events, and defended his title in the grass-court Major with a four-set win over reigning French Open champion Alexander Zverev.

Corrado Barazzutti backs Jannik Sinner’s decision to withdraw from the US Open

For the first time since making his Major debut at the 2019 US Open, Jannik Sinner will be skipping a Grand Slam tournament. At the US Open, he made the finals in 2024 (beat Taylor Fritz) and 2025 (lost to Carlos Alcaraz).

Corrado Barazzutti, a retired player from Italy, said Sinner did the right thing by withdrawing from the New York Slam and cited the example of Fabio Fognini, who chose to compete in the third round of the 2023 French Open despite his pectoral muscle injury. Fognini ended up exacerbating the injury.

But evidently the injury is serious; he didn’t even try. We have no information, we don’t know anything. Also, on Carlos Alcaraz: he was in Barcelona, suddenly retired, and was out of action for four and a half months. Surely Jannik made the best decision by listening to the doctors’ opinion.

Corrado Barazzutti told Corriere della Sera

Sinner has won the most titles on the men’s tour this season. He lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open, then clinched five back-to-back Masters 1000 titles.

After losing the French Open, he defended his Wimbledon title. The five-time Major champion finished as the runner-up in last year’s US Open.

Also read: Former British No.1 Makes Juan Carlos Ferrero Claim Ahead of Carlos Alcaraz’s Awaited US Open Comeback