Jannik Sinner withdraws from ATP 250 event to recover after Australian Open victory

Recently crowned Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner has been received unexpected criticism shortly after his stunning victory in Melbourne.

Recently crowned Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner has been received unexpected criticism shortly after his stunning victory in Melbourne.

Having won his first major title on Sunday, Sinner chose to extend his recovery period and withdraw from the upcoming ATP 250 event in Marseille.

He was expected to be the top seed for the tournament.

The initial announcement of his withdrawal caused a stir at the Open 13 Provence event, with the tournament’s official account on X throwing a barb at the 22-year-old Italian.

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“Sinner snub,” the account wrote in French, before quickly deleting the post and replacing “snub” with “withdraw”.

This modification was in response to backlash from Facebook users and the tournament’s own admission of an overreaction.

The tournament revealed that discussions were underway to have Australian Open semi-finalist Alexander Zverev fill in for Sinner. It also marks the second consecutive year Sinner will miss the Marseille event.

Oh boy, this kind of reaction from an official account... https://t.co/DviYNUubmG

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 29, 2024

Last year, after reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, winning a title in Montpellier, and making it to the final in Rotterdam, Sinner had to withdraw from Marseille due to illness.

Sinner is now preparing to continue his impressive 2024 season in Rotterdam in a couple of weeks, where he may face off against Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev again.

They are poised to be the top two seeds if they both participate.

Last year, Medvedev defeated Sinner in Rotterdam, but Sinner has since bested Medvedev in four encounters, three of which were in finals. Sinner’s recent record against top-five players is remarkable, with ten wins in his last eleven matches.

Italy's Jannik Sinner has learned you can’t please everyone.

“(Sinner) has been definitely the best player in this tournament from a levels standpoint all the way through to the final. All tournament long,” Jim Courier said during the fourth set of the final.

“Medvedev has been battling just to stay afloat in these matches and Sinner has been dominant, the only person to take a set from him, the 10-time champion. Just crushed everybody else.

“He has found that level again here with the help of Medvedev pulling off the throttle.”