An Italian former player and coach has urged Jannik Sinner to “take a cue” from Carlos Alcaraz as he discussed his compatriot’s knee injury.
Sinner announced earlier this month that he would not play again in 2026 due to a right knee injury that has sidelined him since he beat Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final in July.
The five-time Grand Slam champion amassed an outstanding 44-3 record this year, having captured the first five Masters 1000 titles of the season (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome) prior to winning Wimbledon.
The 25-year-old star will lose the world No 1 ranking to Zverev before the end of the season.
In an interview with Italian website Fanpage, ex-ATP player Claudio Pistolesi shared a cautionary tale from his time coaching former world No 4 Robin Soderling.
“I had an experience with Robin Soderling: against my advice, he wanted to play despite being in pain, which required anti-inflammatories and medication,” Pistolesi said.
“In the end, his body paid the price, basically, and he had to stop playing. So, it was a great pain, because I was coaching someone who went from No 5 to No 4 in a year. He had to stop at 26 because of this mistake.
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“Of course, he acknowledged it afterwards and gave me great credit, but I don’t care about the aftermath, even though we’re great friends. He understood the mistake he made.”
Pistolesi went on to highlight Alcaraz‘s successful return to the tour after a right wrist injury as he offered some advice to Sinner.
“Sinner doesn’t want to make the same mistake, just like Alcaraz,” the Italian continued.
“Now it seems like Alcaraz’s wrist isn’t being talked about anymore, right? So, win or lose on the court, he doesn’t have any wrist problems now.
“This is Alcaraz’s big victory now. I mean, he’s won one tournament out of seven in the last few, but who cares?
“He’s counting on being back on the court at a competitive level, he won Tokyo, which is a great tournament, and he’s back on track. Now it will grow back. It takes a bit of time.
“I think Sinner should take a cue from Alcaraz: it’s the knee that counts. When he sees that he doesn’t think about it anymore, that he focuses on serve, return, tactics, training, and goes to the gym without thinking about his knee, then it will be time to come back.
“I’m disappointed because we won’t see Sinner for a number of months, but I hope that, as he said, 2027 will be more than enough.”
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