Jannik Sinner ‘right to save himself’, but ‘in my time Roger, Rafa, Nole didn’t skip big events’

Fabio Fognini believes Jannik Sinner made the right decision to withdraw from the Canadian Open, but he also lamented the fact top players regularly skip ATP Masters 1000 events.

Sinner has won six consecutive ATP 1000 tournaments with his run starting at the Paris Masters last November and continuing with titles at this year’s Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open.

But the streak will come to an end at the Canadian Open as he has decided not to enter the Toronto event, ending talk of the possibility of becoming the first man to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in a calendar year.

Former world No 9 Fognini believes five-time Grand Slam winner Sinner has to look after the bigger picture and that is the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

“I’m not surprised by Jannik’s withdrawal from Montreal, it’s right to save himself for the US Open,” he told Sky Sports Italia. “It could be an opportunity for [fellow Italians Lorenzo] Musetti or [Matteo] Berrettini.”

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Sinner had a hectic schedule in the build-up to this year’s French Open as he went all the way at Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, leaving him with very little time off ahead of Roland Garros.

Many believe that contributed to his shock second-round defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in Paris where he was the heavy favourite and there is no doubt that Sinner’s team don’t want to make the same mistake ahead of the US Open.

He didn’t play any warm-up events in the build-up to Wimbledon and successfully defended his crown.

Sinner, though, won’t be the only big star absent from the event as tennis great and four-time champion Novak Djokovic has also opted to sit out the tournament while world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz is still out with an injury.

The same trio also missed the 2025 edition as they cited various injuries and fatigue for the absence, while in 2024 Djokovic and Alcaraz were absent as they were competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Fognini bemoaned the lack of big-name players at the tournament as he believes it would not have happened “in my time” when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic were dominating the sport.

The Italian added: “Today anyone can win a Masters 1000, in my time Roger, Rafa, and Nole didn’t skip a single one, it was impossible.”