An emotional Jannik Sinner retired from the Cincinnati Open final against Carlos Alcaraz, citing illness just six days before he begins his US Open title defence.
World number one Sinner appeared out of sorts from the very first point of the highly anticipated match and trailed 5-0 after 23 minutes on another hot day. He sat with ice on his head during the first changeover after going a double break down and called for the trainer after losing another two games.
Following a brief conversation, Sinner apologised to the umpire and officials, growing tearful as he expressed feeling “really bad” for the fans. The Italian shared a hug with Alcaraz before walking to the centre of the court, raising his hands in apology to the crowd. He then returned to his seat, hiding his head in his towel.
Spanish world number two Alcaraz quickly moved to comfort his rival, putting an arm around him and writing on the camera lens: “Sorry Jannik.”
Sinner addressed the crowd, saying: “I’m super sorry to disappoint you. From yesterday I didn’t feel great, I thought I would improve but it came up worse. I tried to come out, to make it at least a small match, but I couldn’t handle more. I am very sorry for all of you. I know that maybe some of you, on a Monday, you had to work or do something else, so I’m really sorry.”
This victory marks Alcaraz’s first Cincinnati title and his seventh triumph of the season overall. However, as he admitted afterwards, this was not the way he would have wanted to win. “I can’t say anything you don’t know already. You will come back even stronger like you always do,” Alcaraz said to Sinner. “That’s what true champions do and you are one.”
Sinner, Alcaraz and women’s finalist Iga Swiatek are all scheduled to play in the US Open mixed doubles on Tuesday in New York, though it now seems unlikely Sinner will pair up with Katerina Siniakova as planned. The singles main draw at Flushing Meadows begins on Sunday.
Despite his disappointment at not completing the match, Sinner can take some comfort in the fact that illness, rather than injury, was the cause. He entered the final on a 26-match winning streak on hard courts and had not dropped a set in Cincinnati.
Sinner will retain the world number one ranking despite the loss, but Alcaraz is closing in and remains his biggest rival for the US Open title. The pair can only meet in the final in New York. Sinner is defending more ranking points than Alcaraz, who lost in the second round last year.
This was the fourth final meeting between the pair this year, with Alcaraz winning twice on clay and Sinner triumphing at Wimbledon. However, this match was barely a contest, with Sinner’s lack of movement and early attempts to hit his way out of trouble indicating something was wrong.
Alcaraz won 21 of the 29 points played and committed just one unforced error compared to Sinner’s nine.The two have split the past seven Grand Slams between them, and it is difficult to see who might stop them adding an eighth to that tally.