Jannik Sinner withdraws from Paris Masters with illness

Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Paris Masters with an intestinal virus.

The world No. 1 said he is “very disappointed to tell you I’m not able to play this tournament” in a video shared on X by the event organizers.

“I came here very early to prepare and felt sick. I’m having a virus at the moment … Body-wise I’m not ready to compete, I’m very very sorry for that.

“See you guys next year.”

A message from Jannik to the fans who is sad to annonce that he has to retire due to illness, get well soon @janniksin ❤️‍🩹#RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/ZigQMMKSAh

— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) October 29, 2024

Sinner was top seed for the final ATP 1000 event of the year, having already confirmed his status as year-end No. 1 in early October.

Sinner is replaced in the draw by Frenchman Arthur Cazaux, who will face either American Ben Shelton or fellow Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the second round.

Sinner most recently played the ‘Six Kings Slam’ exhibition event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he won $6million (£4.6m) for beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final. He earlier this year withdrew from the 2024 Paris Olympics citing illness, this time tonsilitis, but has since won the U.S. Open and the Shanghai Masters, another ATP 1000 tournament. Sinner has a 45-3 record on hard courts in 2024 (this excludes the ‘Six Kings Slam’, which was not an ATP-sanctioned event).

The Italian is also awaiting the results of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appeal into his doping case. In March 2024 Sinner twice tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid. In August, an independent tribunal convened by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) accepted his explanation that the positive tests were a result of contamination from a healing spray used by his medical team, and found Sinner to bear “no fault or negligence” for those tests.

But WADA in October announced it would appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seeking a ban of up to two years.

Sinner’s next tournament if healthy will be the ATP Tour Finals in Turin, Italy, which begins November 12.

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(Richard Pelham / Getty Images)