Jannik Sinner is not competing at the Cincinnati Open due to a knee injury, and former British No 1 Greg Rusedski thinks this is “concerning” for the Italian’s 2026 US Open hopes.

After Sinner secured his second Wimbledon title last month, it was revealed that he would miss the Canadian Open for the second straight year.

The world No 1 then announced his withdrawal from the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati and confirmed his right knee has been “bothering” him.”

“After consulting with my doctors and my team, I have to announce that I need to withdraw from the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati,” the five-time Grand Slam champion said.

“My right knee has been bothering me and even though we have been working hard with my medical team, I have to accept that I’m not ready to compete yet.

“I can’t wait to be back next year and I’m now focusing on getting ready for the US Open.”

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Speaking on his Off Court With Greg Rusedski podcast, Rusedski shared his thoughts on the fact that Sinner will not play any events before the US Open.

“It’s concerning because he always plays a lead-up. Everybody plays Cincinnati usually, then a week off, then gets ready for New York,” said the former world No 4.

“So, obviously the knee is worse than we think, because originally he said, I’m not going to play in Canada. Everybody was talking about it, ‘Oh, he can’t win all nine Masters series in the same year. He should be playing.’ And then we find out he has a knee injury.

“So, missing Cincinnati means he’s going to have to fly into New York the week before the US Open. If he doesn’t fly in there, say on the Monday at the latest, there’s going to be question marks: will he play?

“And if [Carlos] Alcaraz and Sinner both don’t play the U S Open, it is wide open. [Novak] Djokovic thinking, ‘maybe this is my chance to get a 25th,’ [Alexander] Zverev thinking, ‘maybe I can get my second major.’

“And Ben Shelton, I have to say, was the most impressive American in Canada, and he won the title without dropping a set.

“So, those guys are kind of in the mix, the two names that everybody’s thinking about — Djokovic and Zverev — if you miss the big two, and that would really hurt the final major of the year.”

The 1997 US Open finalist went on to assert that Sinner has “been beatable this year” outside of Masters 1000 tournaments.

“Australia is different, you have the perfect preparation .You’ve just had six weeks away from the tour, so that’s one of the Slams I throw to the side if you have no preparation,” Rusedski said.

“New York, that’s a different kettle of fish. There’s very few players that have come into York without at least one week and one tournament before winning the US Open.

“He’s been beatable this year outside of the Masters series. Losing in Australia to Novak when he was by far the better player, but he couldn’t convert. Novak showed us why he’s so great.

“And then obviously in Paris, that whole cramping thing, dealing with the heat. And usually in New York, the heat is the issue. So, it’ll be intriguing.

“He kinda bounced back there winning Wimbledon, but Wimbledon temperatures were nowhere near what it can be in New York. But the tournament can protect you, because they can put you in the evening session.”

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