Greg Rusedski believes that Jannik Sinner will take as long as he needs before returning to tennis amid ongoing concerns about a knee injury.

When Sinner defended his Wimbledon title in mid-July, very few would have predicted he would not have played a single match since then.

The Italian pulled out of Canada, Cincinnati, the US Open, Beijing, and Shanghai, with many predicting he will miss the upcoming exhibition, Six Kings Slam, in Saudi Arabia.

Reports suggest the 25-year-old cut short a training session last week in Monte Carlo, with some speculating that he may be out for the rest of the season.

If he cannot compete in Riyadh, the Italian will miss out on a possible $1.5million (£1.13m) payday, but former US Open finalist Rusedski thinks that will be the last of his worries, while stressing the importance of not cutting any corners.

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Indeed, the five-time major winner has netted $11.5m (£8.7m) this year alone, and his career prize money sits at nearly $70m (£52.5m) – not to mention his off-court earnings.

Carlos Alcaraz took more than four months off before returning from a wrist injury. He appears to be reaping the rewards of that as he is in the Japan Open final.

As a result, Rusedski thinks Sinner will be focusing on being fit for the Grand Slams above everything else – something Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did very well during their respective careers.

He said on Off Court with Greg Rusedski, “I don’t think Sinner’s overly worried about the paycheck. He’s worried about health is your wealth. And the rumours are, having pulled out of Shanghai, there’s concerns about that knee, and he’s not going to take any risks.

“He’s like Carlos. He’s going to take as long as he needs to make sure he’s a hundred percent fit because it’s all about trying to win those major titles.

“And these guys are smart enough not to get the injections, not to do things that is going to really hurt the healing process, because if you’re taking cortisone shots or doing things like that, the ligaments and tendons, they end up getting weak and it takes you an extra six weeks to recover because you don’t get the natural rebuilding of the body areas.

“So these guys are going to play it safe. They’re thinking about the next 10 or 15 years. And if they want to be known as some of the greats of the game, they have to get those grand slam records like the Federer’s, the Djokovic’s and the Nadal’s.”

World No 1 Sinner is scheduled to play at the Vienna Open, which starts on 26 October. Whether he returns in time is up in the air.

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