Jannik Sinner plans late-December return at Saudi exhibition ahead of Australian Open

MILAN Jannik Sinner plans to return from injury at an exhibition event in December to prepare for the Australian Open and believes the enforced layoff has changed his attitude towards tennis. Sinner has not played since July when he beat Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final. He withdrew from the U.S. Open because of a right knee injury.

Ongoing problems with the knee delayed the 25-year-old’s return and he announced last month his season was over. Last week, Zverev took over the No. 1 ranking that Sinner held for 95 weeks. “The aim is to go to Australia, the aim is also maybe to do a couple of tournaments first,” Sinner said at a sponsor event in Milan on Tuesday.

“But I have to respect the protocols at the moment because if we rush things we could have more serious problems. “I also only have that information, that I have to work hard every day for that objective and then we’ll see.” One of those tournaments is the Six Kings Slam, an exhibition in Saudi Arabia that was postponed until late December because of the conflict in the Middle East.