Top Seed Jannik Sinner Withdraws from Madrid Open with Hip Injury

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Mutua Madrid Open due to a right-hip injury, organizers announced on Wednesday. The withdrawal comes just hours after second seed Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated by Andrey Rublev.

Sinner, the Australian Open champion, was scheduled to face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals on Thursday. However, he has been struggling with the hip injury for some time and aggravated it during his third-round win over Pavel Kotov.

"I have been struggling a little bit with my right hip. We're trying to find a solution and I don't think it's anything serious. Sometimes I feel it more like today and some days are a little bit better," Sinner said after the Kotov match.

Despite the injury, Sinner managed to defeat 16th seed Karen Khachanov in the fourth round to improve his season record to 28-2. He was aiming to win his fourth title of the year and his first on clay since defeating Alcaraz in the 2022 Umag final.

Sinner's withdrawal is a major blow to the Madrid Open, which has already lost two of its top seeds. Auger-Aliassime will now face the winner of the match between third seed Daniil Medvedev and 30th seed Jiri Lehecka, who upset Rafael Nadal in the second round.

Sinner is now hoping to be fully fit for the Rome Masters 1000, which begins next week. He has reached the quarterfinals in Rome once before, in 2022. Sinner is currently ranked No. 2 in the world, 1,130 points behind Novak Djokovic.

Tags: #MutuaMadridOpen, #JannikSinner, #Injury, #FelixAugerAliassime, #CarlosAlcaraz