BREAKING NEWS: Sinner ends 2026 season due to injury | Djokovic wins Beijing title - what does it mean for the race to Turin?

Jannik Sinner (0:00)

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John Silk (0:13)

Jannik Sinner has brought his 2026 tennis season to a close due to needing a course of treatment for his knee.

He hasn't played since Wimbledon, and now it'll be January at the earliest before we see him on a tennis court again. He made the announcement on social media earlier today.

Jannik Sinner (0:35)

Hello, everyone. I would like to give you a little update. Me together with the doctors have decided that I need a course of treatment for my knee, which means that the 2026 season is officially over.

The last couple of years, especially the ending in Turin, gave me so many beautiful feelings and emotions, which this year is going to be way different. But at the moment, I also need to think about my long-term career. So I will do everything possible to get back 100%.

I will thank you already in advance for your support and hope to see you very, very soon on court again. Ciao, ciao.

John Silk (1:18)

It now means that it's almost inevitable that Alexander Zverev will end the year at world number one due to Jannik's absence from the tour.

I believe there might be a permutation where Alcaraz wins every match between now and the end of the season and Zverev doesn't win a single match. But for all intents and purposes, the German will end the year as world number one, largely as a result of course of his two Grand Slam titles that he earned this year, the French Open and the US Open. In doing so, Zverev will become the 30th player in tennis history to reach the ATP world number one and the 20th to finish a season as ATP number one. As Jose Morgado highlights here on Twitter, the race to Turin is now wide open with Sinner out of the tournament with just less than 1000 points separating the fifth and 14th spot. We've got Djokovic in action already today in the Beijing final against Alex Dima Noor. He has announced that he will be playing Paris, Bursi and maybe Shanghai as he does intend to pursue a spot in Turin.

This list you can see on the screen right now is with Jannik taken out. So it's a real boost for players such as Tiafro and Fies, who are much closer to the year-end championships in Italy as a result of Jannik's absence. Meanwhile Medved, Dima Noor, Djokovic and even Rafa Hoddar will all fancy their chances of making it to the year-end finals. The other four spots pretty much seem to be sealed. Svetov and Alcaraz have already qualified by virtue of winning slams as well as their points differential. Shelton is 99% of the way there to earn another spot in Turin. And Flavio Caballi is also well set to make his debut at the year-end finals. Back to Jannik, however, though, it is insane, as Vanch highlights, just how much of this season Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have missed. Sinner has missed four 1000s, one Grand Slam, that being the US Open, and the ATP finals now confirmed. Alcaraz, meanwhile, has missed four 1000s and two Grand Slams, having had a wrist injury. Both will miss six big events, and there were only five events when they were in the same draw, those being the Australian Open, Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, and Monte Carlo. I think they played just once this year in Monte Carlo, and that was a win for Jannik shortly before Carlos Alcaraz's ill-fated attempt to play Barcelona, and therefore the clay court swing when he had to withdraw from that entire swing through injury. A big two comes with fragility as Vanch highlights.

A frustrating end to the season for Jannik Sinner, who will be relinquishing his number one spot with a 44-3 record, a Wimbledon champion, of course, titles in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, all in a row, also completing the career masters as a result of the youngest ever age. Played Zvedo five times this year, won all five of those. Played Alcaraz once, so just highlighted in the Monte Carlo final, and he won that one too.

He will be back. This is probably more sensible. Look at what's happened with Alcaraz, for example, with the wrist injury and how they really took care with that, not rushing back, playing Wimbledon, or playing in Canada or Cincinnati, and they are now bearing the fruits. Alcaraz winning a title earlier today in Tokyo. So I'm optimistic that we will see Jannik Sinner in full and fresh action. He may even play a warm up tournament as a result before Australia, something he's not done for a few years. So that is something to look forward to. In the meantime, there is one less player going to be playing in Turin. It is the current world number one, Jannik Sinner, and it will be the outgoing number one as well.