Jannik Sinner chose to end his 2026 ATP season earlier this month due to a knee injury that has kept him out of action since the Wimbledon final.

After beating Alexander Zverev at the All England Club in July to clinch his fifth Grand Slam title, Sinner was forced to withdraw from several big tournaments due to the knee issue, including the US Open. After pulling out of the Shanghai Masters, the Italian ultimately made the decision to call a halt to his season, meaning he will not defend his titles at the Paris Masters or the ATP Finals.

Sinner will not be in action until at least the start of the 2027 campaign, and former Italian player Claudio Pistolesi thinks the 25-year-old ought to be very cautious with his return date.

Claudio Pistolesi issues warning to Jannik Sinner amid injury

As per Fanpage, Pistolesi shared a story from his time coaching two-time Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling. He said: “I had an experience with Robin Soderling: against my advice, he wanted to play despite being in pain, which required anti-inflammatories and medication.

“In the end, his body paid the price, basically, and he had to stop playing. So, it was a great pain, because I was coaching someone who went from number five to number four in a year. He had to stop at 26 because of this mistake. Of course, he acknowledged it afterwards and gave me great credit, but I don’t care about the aftermath, even though we’re great friends.

“He understood the mistake he made. Sinner doesn’t want to make the same mistake, just like Alcaraz. Now it seems like Alcaraz’s wrist isn’t being talked about anymore, right? So, win or lose on the court, he doesn’t have any wrist problems now.

Give us one bold prediction for the final months of the 2026 tennis season!

“This is Alcaraz’s big victory now. I mean, he’s won one tournament out of seven in the last few, but who cares? He’s counting on being back on the court at a competitive level, he won Tokyo, which is a great tournament, and he’s back on track. Now it will grow back. It takes a bit of time. I think Sinner should take a cue from Alcaraz: it’s the knee that counts.

“When he sees that he doesn’t think about it anymore, that he focuses on serve, return, tactics, training, and goes to the gym without thinking about his knee, then it will be time to come back. I’m disappointed because we won’t see Sinner for a number of months, but I hope that, as he said, 2027 will be more than enough.”

The current ATP top five with Jannik Sinner out due to injury

Despite not playing since the Wimbledon final, Sinner is still atop the ATP rankings with a points tally of 10,950. Zverev will eventually surpass him and become the year-end number one, but the German currently trails in second with 10,070 ATP points to his name.

Having started the season as the world number one, Carlos Alcaraz is now ranked third, well below Sinner and Zverev with 5,610 live points. He leads fourth-placed Ben Shelton, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, by just under 1000 points.

Daniil Medvedev currently occupies the last spot in the ATP top five on 3,660 points, but Flavio Cobolli is not far behind with 3,640.