When Jannik Sinner pulled out of the Cincinnati Open final, dark clouds loomed over him ahead of the US Open. The Italian star was a major concern for the Grand Slam event in New York, putting his title defense in limbo. To make matters worse, he even pulled out of the US Open Mixed Doubles event, sparking concerns that the illness was serious. But a few hours back, Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, broke his silence on the situation of the World Number 1.

Talking to ESPN, Cahill said, “I spoke to him briefly last night. He was feeling a bit better last night. He will take today off as well, that’s the plan, and hopefully get on the court tomorrow and start hitting a few balls….We are confident he’s going to be fine.” Thus, Sinner’s return date is set, and he will be seen in action next week as he resumes his title defense. This comes as a major relief to his fans, who were left worried after Sinner withdrew from the Cincinnati Open a few days back.

Soon after pulling out of the Cincinnati Open final, Sinner admitted that he wasn’t feeling great. It could be seen from his performance as he went down instantly 5-0 before withdrawing. In what was a hot and humid day in Cincinnati, Sinner bore the brunt of the extreme heat and felt down and out. During the post-match interview, he apologized to the fans, saying, “I’m super super sorry to disappoint you. From yesterday, I didn’t feel great. I thought that I would improve during the night, but it came up worse. I tried to come out, tried to make it at least a small match. But I couldn’t handle more.”

Nonetheless, Cahill’s reassuring statement would be music to the ears of his fans. Sinner would use this mini-break to rejuvenate and emerge fresh at the US Open. Meanwhile, many bigwigs slammed the officials for conducting the Cincinnati final in extreme heat, given that the US Open was just a week away. Even Roger Federer’s ex-coach, Ivan Ljubicic, called out the poor scheduling there.

Roger Federer’s ex-coach comes down hard amid Jannik Sinner’s illness

Sinner’s illness could be attributed to the poor conditions during the summit clash. This took a toll on him, and he had to eventually withdraw from the match midway. All this could’ve been avoided had the organizers scheduled the clash mindfully, taking into account the conditions there. As a result, Ljubicic was critical of them for failing in this regard.

He said, “What we saw in Cincinnati is sobering. I can’t understand why they insist on playing in that heat and humidity. The athletes risk injury, and the fans aren’t having fun. Something has to be done. For me, these are unrelated cases. Jannik had a hip problem that he fixed, then he was just unlucky: the fall on his elbow, the alleged virus. It doesn’t mean his body is fragile at all.”

However, with Sinner recovering well, he will be rearing to go at the US Open. Can he defend his title at Flushing Meadows? Let us know your views in the comments below.