A Season That Promised So Much
Jannik Sinner was riding one of the most dominant stretches of tennis seen in years when his 2026 campaign unraveled. After winning five Masters 1000 titles in a row and then retaining his Wimbledon crown in mid-July, the Italian looked poised for a spectacular finish to the season. Instead, a knee injury forced him to skip the North American hardcourt swing, the Asian swing, and ultimately the entire remainder of the year. In early October, Sinner made the difficult call to shut things down completely, targeting the 2027 Australian Open as his comeback tournament.
The 25-year-old, now a five-time Grand Slam champion, has since lost the world No. 1 ranking to Alexander Zverev. But rather than rush back, he is focused on building a career he hopes will last another decade.
Inside the Recovery: Doctors, Weight Loss, and Hard Days
Sinner gave fans an unfiltered look at his rehabilitation in a new episode posted to his YouTube channel. The video follows him traveling to Lyon for medical checks, returning to Monte Carlo for physiotherapy, and linking up with longtime coach Darren Cahill, who has since departed from his support team after several successful years.
In his own words, Sinner described the unpredictable nature of the injury: some days he felt nothing wrong, while on others he said he simply could not move at all. A doctor in the footage noted that Sinner had lost significant weight and muscle mass. Sinner also disclosed that he had his tonsils removed weeks earlier, compounding the physical toll. For a competitor of his intensity, the hardest part has been staying away from competition altogether.
TennisDraw users had Sinner listed as a leading Australian Open contender long before this injury update, and plenty are still holding firm on that pick.
