Tennis: Jannik Sinner withdraws from Madrid Open with hip injury ahead of Roland Garros

On Wednesday (May 1), top-seeded Jannik Sinner withdrew from the ongoing Madrid Open, in Spain, due to a hip injury. Sinner went past Karen Khachanov in the fourth round and was set to take on Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals on Thursday (May 2).

However, he has left the tournament midway with an injury crisis -- just few weeks before the upcoming French Open. 

'My hip has been bothering me'

World number two Sinner said on social media, "Very sad to have to withdraw from my next match here in Madrid."

"My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly been getting more painful. Taking the advice from the doctors we decided it's best to not play further and make it worse."

Also read: Tennis: Flawless Andrey Rublev knocks out champion Carlos Alcaraz to move into Madrid semis

The 22-year-old was expected to play in Rome before the French Open, which kicks off later this month.

However, his withdrawal seems like a wise decision as the in-form Italian player will be eager to regain full fitness ahead of the second Grand Slam of the calendar year.

It is to be noted that the 2024 Australian Open winner holds a 28-2 record this season. He was making his third appearance in Madrid before quitting midway with injury concerns.

With Sinner pulling out, Auger-Aliassime will play in his first ATP 1000 semifinal since Paris in 2022. The Canadian will now lock horns with either third-seeded Daniil Medvedev or 30th-seeded Jiri Lehecka. 

Carlos Alcaraz also bowed out of the Madrid Open, on Wednesday, after losing to Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals.

He went down 4-6 6-3 6-2 in front of his home crowd as Rublev will now face American Taylor Fritz in Friday's semifinal clash.