ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner‘s 2026 season is over. The world No. 1 announced on 6 October that he will have treatment for inflammation in his right knee, which rules him out of the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, where he is the defending champion at both. He has not played since he beat Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July.
What Sinner Said
Sinner made the announcement in a video on Instagram. He said that after consulting his doctors he would follow a course of treatment for the knee and that his season was over. A statement from his management said the treatment is meant to give him the time he needs to recover before he starts preparing for the 2027 season. Neither he nor his team has given a return date or described the injury in more detail than inflammation.
A Season Cut Short in July
For the first half of 2026 Sinner was close to unbeatable. He won Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, completing the Career Golden Masters in Rome, and then defended his Wimbledon title, beating Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the final. That turned out to be his last match.
He withdrew from the National Bank Open in Montreal in July to protect his health after Wimbledon, then pulled out of the Cincinnati Open on 9 August with the right knee injury. On 21 August he withdrew from the US Open, the first Grand Slam he had missed since 2019. He did not play the Asian swing, including the Shanghai Masters, before confirming on 6 October that he would not play again this year.
What It Means for World No. 1
Sinner still leads the ATP rankings on 11,000 points, 1,280 ahead of Zverev on 9,720. That lead will not survive the rest of the year. The rankings run on a rolling 52-week basis, and Sinner won three titles in this part of the 2025 season: Vienna, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals, worth 3,000 points between them. With no tournaments left to replace them, those points come off his total once this year’s editions are played.
By our count he will be down to around 7,950 points on 23 November, the Monday after the ATP Finals. Zverev, whose career high is No. 2, is still playing and is in the quarter-finals in Shanghai, so he is in position to become world No. 1 for the first time before the season ends. The exact week depends on his own results and the points he is defending from last autumn.
Paris Without Its Defending Champion
Sinner won his first Paris title in 2025, beating Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 7-6(4) in the final. The 2026 event runs from 31 October to 8 November and will have a new champion. It is also the last chance to qualify for Turin, and the field looks more open than usual after the Shanghai Masters, where Carlos Alcaraz lost to Zizou Bergs, Novak Djokovic to Hubert Hurkacz and Ben Shelton to Arthur Gea. Our Paris Masters preview and betting tips will be updated when the entry list is published.
A New ATP Finals Champion
Sinner won the ATP Finals in 2024 and 2025, beating Taylor Fritz and then Alcaraz in the final, so the 2026 event in Turin from 15 to 22 November will crown someone else. He was second in the Race to Turin behind Zverev, which means one more qualifying place opens up for the players chasing the last spots in Paris. The ATP Finals preview covers the format and the race.
Davis Cup
Sky Sports has reported that Sinner will also miss the Davis Cup Final 8 in Bologna from 24 to 29 November, where Italy are the hosts and defending champions. That has not been confirmed by the Italian federation, and we will update this page if it is.
FAQ
Jannik Sinner Injury FAQs
Is Jannik Sinner playing the Paris Masters?
No. Sinner announced on 6 October that his 2026 season is over because of inflammation in his right knee, so he will not defend his Paris title.
Will Sinner play the ATP Finals in Turin?
No. He has won the last two editions but will miss the 2026 ATP Finals, which run from 15 to 22 November.
What is Sinner’s injury?
His team has described it as inflammation in his right knee. It forced him out of the Cincinnati Open and the US Open in August, and he has not played since winning Wimbledon in July.
When will Jannik Sinner return?
No date has been given. His team says the aim is for him to recover before he starts preparing for the 2027 season.
Will Sinner lose the world No. 1 ranking?
Very likely. He leads Alexander Zverev by 1,280 points, but the 3,000 points he won at Vienna, Paris and the ATP Finals in 2025 come off his total this autumn, which by our count leaves him on around 7,950 points by 23 November.
More Coverage
See Jannik Sinner’s profile and his next match page, our Alexander Zverev profile, the Sinner v Zverev head-to-head and the Alcaraz v Sinner head-to-head. Full coverage of the last weeks of the season sits on our Paris Masters hub and ATP Finals hub, and the dates are in the 2026 tennis calendar.