Jannik Sinner to make ‘eagerly awaited’ decision ‘in next few hours’, according to report

Jannik Sinner has stepped up his recovery and training, but there are still doubts about his participation in the Shanghai Masters with a decision expected “in the next few hours”.

The world No 1 last played a competitive match on 12 July when he defeated Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final and he was initially expected to make his return at the Cincinnati Open after opting to skip the Canadian Open.

But a predicted one-month absence from the ATP Tour has turned into two and a half months as he picked up a knee injury during training and was forced to miss the Cincinnati event as well as the US Open.

His team opted not to rush his return as he also pulled out of this week’s title defence at the China Open, but up next on the calendar is the Shanghai Masters, which runs from 7-18 October.

According to Sky Italia, Sinner’s recovery is on track, but it is still not certain that he will play at the ATP 1000 event as “his last training session (on Wednesday, September 30th) doesn’t seem to have dispelled doubts about his participation”.

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The five-time Grand Slam winner’s knee “has healed” and he has increased his intensity in training in Monte Carlo, but his team will now evaluate “his response to the on-court test and his physical condition, which is improving day by day”.

They will only make a decision on whether or not to travel to Shanghai after concluding the tests, but that decision will be “in the next few hours”.

Sinner only has 50 points to defend at the penultimate Masters event of the 2026 season as he retired from his third-round match against Tallon Griekspoor due to cramps and physical exhaustion.

The Italian, though, is under pressure from Alexander Zverev in the ATP Rankings as the German is just 1,370 behind him and that gap could be smaller by the end of the week as the new US Open champion is in action at the China Open.

Zverev also only has 50 points to defend in Shanghai and could replace Sinner at No 1 if he wins the ATP 500 event in Beijing and the Shanghai Masters, should Sinner opt not to compete at the latter event.

And even if Zverev fails to get the job done in Shanghai, he will have more opportunities during the final stretch of the campaign as Sinner will drop 2,500 points from his title runs in Paris Masters and the ATP Finals.

The two-time Grand Slam winner only has 930 points to defend after the Shanghai Masters.