World no. 8 Jannik Sinner will not compete at this week’s Masters 1000 event in Madrid. The young Italian withdrew ahead of the last week’s Barcelona Open quarter-final due to illness, not feeling well and deciding to skip Madrid and get back at 100% for his home Rome Masters. Jannik used a couple of days off the court to visit a comune in South Tyrol and enjoy himself with his friends. Sinner has been among the most consistent players this season, reaching seven quarter-finals from eight tournaments. Jannik fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open fourth round in five sets before winning the Montpellier title. The young gun fell to Daniil Medvedev in the Rotterdam final, missing a chance to secure back-to-back titles and withdrawing from Marseille. Sinner played well in Indian Wells and reached the semi-final, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in just under two hours. Jannik beat Carlos in Miami and advanced into the title clash, only to settle with the runner-up prize after losing to Daniil Medvedev.
Jannik Sinner withdrew from Barcelona and missed the Madrid Masters.
After a massive battle, the Italian fell to Holger Rune in the Monte Carlo semi-final, becoming the youngest player to achieve the semi-final at all three Masters 1000 events in a single season. Jannik entered the last eight in Barcelona before withdrawing ahead of the Lorenzo Musetti clash due to illness. Sinner did not feel well last week, and it got even worse following his win over Yoshihito Nishioka. The young gun decided to miss the rest of the tournament and fully recover ahead of the Rome Masters. Jannik was the 4th seed in Barcelona, making a winning start against Diego Schwartzman. Sinner beat Schwartzman 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 40 minutes. The young Italian scored his 25th victory in 2023, eager to continue where he left at the season’s opening three Masters 1000 events. Jannik lost serve three times and delivered six breaks from 57% of the return points. Sinner fired 26 winners and 20 unforced errors, keeping the points on his racquet and reducing Schwartzman to modest seven direct points.
The Italian faced Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round and prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes for a place in the quarter-final. Jannik struggled behind the second serve and got broken five times. He grabbed 54% of the return points and turned them into eight breaks from 16 chances, enough to emerge at the top. The Italian made a flying start, dropping one point behind the initial shot in the opener and securing breaks in games two and six for 6-1. Nishioka got broken three times in a row in set number two. This time, he played well on the return and stole Sinner’s serve four times to take the set 6-4 and force a decider. Jannik raised his level on the return again in the final set and delivered three straight breaks to emerge at the top. Instead of an entertaining duel against Lorenzo Musetti, Jannik pushed his compatriot straight into the semi-final and withdrew to rest his body after several demanding weeks.