Italian tennis legend gives his verdict on Jannik Sinner’s decision to withdraw from the Canadian Open

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Fans looking forward to seeing Jannik Sinner return to action will have to wait a few more weeks, as he withdraws from his next tournament.

The world number one won his second Grand Slam of the year last time out as Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

He had been scheduled to return to the court in Toronto before Sinner withdrew from the 2025 Canadian Open.

Many fans and pundits have given their verdicts on Sinner’s decision not to play the Canadian Open, along with his biggest rivals Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who also withdrew.

Weighing in with his thoughts, an Italian tennis legend has commented on Sinner’s withdrawal from Toronto.

Paolo Bertolucci believes Jannik Sinner made a ‘correct and understandable’ decision

During an interview with Repubblica, 1976 Davis Cup winner Paolo Bertolucci claimed Sinner is doing the right thing withdrawing from the Canadian Open, as he looked ahead to the final Grand Slam of the year.

“He absolutely cannot afford not to be at his best for the US Open,” he said.

“It’s normal and even logical that he took a week off after Wimbledon. Now he’ll have ten days of high-level training, and then he’ll go to Cincinnati.

“He’s adopting a correct and understandable strategy.”

Bertolucci proceeded to bash Sinner’s critics and explained the relative importance of Masters 1000 events compared to the four Grand Slams.

“Anyone who doesn’t understand this and is worried about losing 200 ranking points means they don’t know the rules of tennis,” he said.

“It’s vital. You can’t push yourself to the max every week, every tournament. That doesn’t exist.

“The goals for a player like [Jannik] Sinner are the Slams and that’s it. Successes in the Masters 1000s are to be taken with great pleasure, but these are now almost training tournaments for the Slams.”

In 2024, Sinner lost to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, earning himself 200 ATP points.

Dropping those points likely won’t bother the 23-year-old, as he holds a 3,000+ point lead atop the world rankings.

He will, however, have more points to defend should he participate in the Cincinnati Open, an event at which he impressed 12 months ago.

Jannik Sinner’s record at the Cincinnati Open

Prior to 2024, Sinner had struggled in Ohio, winning just 50% of his matches at the Cincinnati Open.

• 2021 Cincinnati Open 1R – Jannik Sinner beat Federico Delbonis
• 2021 Cincinnati Open 2R – Jannik Sinner lost to John Isner
• 2022 Cincinnati Open 1R – Jannik Sinner beat Thanasi Kokkinakis
• 2022 Cincinnati Open 2R – Jannik Sinner beat Miomir Kecmanovic
• 2022 Cincinnati Open 3R – Jannik Sinner lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime
• 2023 Cincinnati Open 2R – Jannik Sinner lost to Dusan Lajovic

Taking his game to another level in 2024, Sinner turned his fortunes around in Cincinnati, winning his fourth Masters 1000 title.

Defeating Alex Michelsen in his opener, Sinner was then given a walkover into the quarterfinals when his third-round opponent Jordan Thompson withdrew.

Sinner was then faced with a Canadian Open rematch with Rublev, where he fought hard to avenge his defeat in Montreal, picking up the win in three sets to book his place in the semis.

Standing between Sinner and a place in the Cincinnati Open final was Alexander Zverev, a former champion at the event.

In a true ‘Match of the Year’ contender, Sinner defeated Zverev 7-6 [11-9], 5-7, 7-6 [7-4] to advance to the final.

There, Sinner took down Frances Tiafoe to win his maiden Cincinnati Open title, improving his record at the event to 7-3.

Sinner will no doubt hope to defend his crown in 2025, picking up his fifth Masters 1000 title in the process.

The 2025 Cincinnati Open, featuring the expected returns of Sinner, Djokovic, and Alcaraz, is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 4.