Jannik Sinner confirms whether he could pull out of Cincinnati final after feeling hip pain during win vs Alexander Zverev

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Jannik Sinner was seen clutching his right hip throughout his thrilling victory over Alexander Zverev.

The Italian did both everything and nothing to relieve any doubt about his physical condition.

A sliding backhand down-the-line came seconds before the world number one hobbled back towards the baseline.

The hitting was simply huge in a rivalry that often doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

Alexander Zverev outlasted Jannik Sinner at the US Open last year, eventually coming through their round of 16 match in five sets. 

With only one win out in their five meetings, Sinner came back from breaks down to become the first Italian man to reach the final in Cincinnati.

With Sinner’s hip injury from Madrid something that has totally disrupted his form, the Italian addressed the niggle after his match, revealing what condition it was in. 

Jannik Sinner suggests his hip injury has changed slightly

Despite Sinner looking ‘back’, the hip still looks like a real concern, with a handful of grimaces telegraphed across the 22-year-old’s face during his match. 

Given the closeness to the US Open, where he will be the number one seed, the 22-year-old was quizzed in its current condition.

“For sure, sometimes I feel it,” he told Tennis.com. “I have to understand what exactly it is at the moment, because I feel like it’s a different small issue than it was before. It’s not bad. I’m not worried yet, so I’m happy to play.”

Frances Tiafoe’s comeback win against Holger Rune puts the American into his first Masters final.

With the pair having played four times, all on hard courts, Sinner leads the head-to-head by three wins to one.

What does Jannik Sinner reaching the Cincinnati final do to the ATP rankings?

It had looked to be a perilous week for Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, with Zverev set to receive a huge boost in the ATP rankings if he won the tournament.

With Djokovic having skipped all US Open warm-up tournaments and Alcaraz losing prematurely, both last year’s finalists lost a bucketful of points.

Had Zverev won Cincinnati he would leapfrog the pair into second.

With Sinner having improved hugely at Cincinnati specifically since last year when he lost in his opening match, the 22-year-old’s reign at the top will continue regardless of what happens at the US Open.