Jannik Sinner’s Cincinnati Open title defence ended in heartbreak after he was forced to retire during the final against Carlos Alcaraz.
Sinner was 5-0 down to the Spaniard in the first set after 23 minutes, struggling to move on the court and looking nowhere near his best.
He revealed in his post-match interview that he had not been feeling well since the day before, and apologised to the fans for not being able to finish the contest.
After the Italian decided he could not continue the final with Alcaraz, an ATP star took to social media to voice his frustrations.
Top 20 player calls for change after Jannik Sinner’s retirement
World number 18 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina posted on X after the final, saying: “A Monday final at 3pm in August in Cincinnati.
“After the whole Toronto–Cincinnati swing, with so many retirements and players dead tired… something needs to change.”
Both the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open had been expanded to 12-day events this year, aligning their formats with five other two-week Masters 1000s.
The changes have seen the championship matches played at unusual times, with the Toronto title bout taking place on a Thursday night, and the Cincinnati final occurring on a Monday afternoon.
The scheduling issues after the Wimbledon championships
After Sinner triumphed at Wimbledon, he made the decision to withdraw from the Canadian Open to rest and recover.
He joined a long list of stars to pull out of the first Masters 1000 event of the North American hard-court season, joining Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper and others.
The turnaround between two long events was too short, and with many picking up injuries at the All England Club, the schedule simply did not allow them to compete in Toronto.
Now, after a jam-packed swing, many stars will likely struggle with fatigue at the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year in New York.
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