Sinner out of Shanghai: Zverev two titles from world No. 1

On Saturday, on Instagram, Jannik Sinner, 25, announced his withdrawal from the Shanghai Masters (7-18 October): “Unfortunately I won’t be able to play at the Rolex Shanghai Masters this year as I had hoped. I’m very sorry that I won’t be able to do so next week.” The world No. 1 has not played since his Wimbledon title on 12 July, won in the final against Alexander Zverev. Out with a right knee injury since the summer, he has given no return date.

Two titles, and a 30-point lead

In the rankings of 1 October, Sinner stood on 11,000 points, Zverev on 9,630: a gap of 1,370. The top spot is now being decided without the Italian, on a path mapped out by RMC Sport: a title in Beijing this week would cut the gap to 970 points, the 30 points from Sinner’s 2025 Shanghai run would then drop from his tally, and the trophy on 18 October would lift him above Sinner, 30 points clear.

Should he miss one of the two titles, the end-of-season arithmetic still works for the German: Sinner has 3,550 points to defend by the end of the year, Zverev 1,080. The Italian won Vienna, Paris and the Turin Masters over the same stretch last year; defending that haul without a match in his legs for three months is another matter.

The knee, still unexplained

No official diagnosis, no timetable. The Italian press has floated iliotibial band syndrome, put forward by the journalist Gabriele Parpiglia; nothing has been confirmed. franceinfo, citing AFP, reports a consultation in Lyon on Friday with Dr Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, a knee specialist. A return in Vienna on 24 October, then Paris, has been suggested: nothing official there either.

In Beijing, Djokovic first

Alexander Zverev, 29, is playing this weekend in Beijing: after sweeping China’s Juncheng Shang 6-0, 6-3 in the last sixteen on Saturday, he meets Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. Winner at Roland Garros and the US Open this season, his first two Grand Slam titles, he has never been world No. 1. “I think it’s a goal for any player. I’m very pleased to be part of that conversation,” he said at a press conference in Beijing.

The calendar is tight: Djokovic in the Beijing quarter-finals, then Shanghai from 7 to 18 October, where one trophy could see the top spot change hands.