Carlos Alcaraz is the champion in Cincinnati after Jannik Sinner was forced to retire during their 14th tour-level clash.
The Italian looked nowhere near his best during the short-lived contest, going five games down to the Spaniard and struggling to move on the court.
It looked as though Sinner would try to fight through and finish the first set, but at 5-0, he called the physio, and quickly decided he could not continue.
After apologising to the crowd and revealing he had not been feeling well the night before, the world number one sent a message to Alcaraz in his post-match interview.
Jannik Sinner’s message to Carlos Alcaraz after the Cincinnati Open final
Sinner said: “Carlos, congrats on the title. For sure not the way you wanted to, but it’s an amazing season you are producing to you and your whole team you are doing amazing.
“Keep it up. I wish you the best for the US Open and the rest of the season.”
“To my team thank you for pushing me and also for understanding me because sometimes it’s not easy when we travel around the world the whole year.
“Thank you for the support and understanding the situation today. I am very sorry to disappoint, but sometimes it’s like this, and we have to accept it.
“It has been one of the hottest tournaments we have played, so thank you so much for the support and all the people who came. For the organisation who made us feel at home. You made an incredible change in one year.”
What Jannik Sinner said to the physio before retiring in Cincinnati
Speaking on Sky Sports, former American tennis player Ryan Harrison said: “In that conversation with the ATP physios and Jerry Armstrong, the ATP supervisor, he did say I am sorry guys I tried, I gave it a go.
“That makes me think this was something he knew was going on when he walked onto the court.
“That means I knew something was happening, and I came out here to see what I could do for the fans.
“This is not the way Carlos wanted to lift the trophy, but it’s another Masters 1000 for the Spaniard.”
The result marks Alcaraz’s third ATP Masters 1000 title of the season, and the eighth of his career.
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