Jannik Sinner failed to defend his Cincinnati Masters title. The Italian faced his greatest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, in the title clash and retired while trailing 5-0 in the first set after 23 minutes.
Thus, Jannik became only the fourth world no. 1 player to retire in the ATP final. Jimmy Connors was the first in 1977, with Gustavo Kuerten joining the list in 2001.
Interestingly, Novak Djokovic joined the list in Cincinnati, like Jannik, when he retired against Andy Murray in 2011 while trailing 6-4, 3-0. The Serb embraced ten matches within 12 days and failed to chase the title due to a sore shoulder.
Thus, Djokovic lost a hard-court match after 35 straight wins. Also, his impressive Masters 1000 streak ended on 31 straight triumphs. Fourteen years later, Sinner could not finish his Cincinnati Masters final despite a valiant effort.
He entered the match while battling a high fever and flu symptoms for two days. The Italian did not feel better over night, and he stepped onto the court only for the fans who came to watch them on Monday.
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Carlos claimed all five opening games before Jannik ended his resistance after talking with doctors. The Spaniard made a strong start and grabbed three straight breaks against the powerless opponent.
Sinner tried to go for his shots and shorten the points. However, he sprayed too many mistakes before ending his misery, not risking more serious issues ahead of the US Open.
