Jannik Sinner will reportedly forfeit a £3.3million payday because of his injury struggles, according to Tennis365. The five-time Grand Slam winner was forced to skip the US Open with a right knee problem and has not played a competitive match since beating Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final over two months ago.
Season cut short by injury
Sinner recently announced he had ended his season early to prioritise his recovery and avoid further setbacks. His lack of recent activity has allowed Zverev to overtake him at the top of the ATP rankings, with the German also set to benefit financially.
Sinner has missed three Masters tournaments this year, meaning he will be forced to forfeit the £3.3m cash bonus offered to the best player on tour despite being the highest performer.
Zverev in line for runner-up prize
Zverev is well-placed to land the £1.88m consolation prize for finishing as the runner-up, having reached four semi-finals and one final out of the nine tournaments. However, he must still perform well at the upcoming Paris Masters, where he will need to better Arthur Fils' result to secure second place.
Zverev was recently beaten in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, losing to eventual champion Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Reflecting on the defeat, the reigning French Open and US Open champion said: "I think if I feel like I could have done something more, then it's painful for me, and it always will be painful. It doesn't change what you won in the past."
Zverev reflects on Shanghai loss
"But if you feel like you've done everything that you could, and I feel like this tournament I, funnily enough, I lost, yes, to Alejandro, who people will say: 'Oh, he's ranked 20 whatever in the world'," he added. "He's playing well, first. Second, I feel like I've actually, in a way, maybe overachieved this week because of how much tennis I played. I carried a little bit of injury, I carried fatigue into the tournament, and I'm okay to lose to a player like this today."
"I think, again, anybody who watched the match maybe saw that I was moving a bit slower. I was maybe not running as much. But again, I'm not going to say anything new," he continued. "I think it's okay. I played a lot of tennis, which is a good sign for me. And I was able to be injury-free this year, which is also a good sign for me."
