Jannik Sinner not to play any grass tournaments ahead of Wimbledon title defence, set to skip Halle Open

Jannik Sinner has already competed in a lot of tennis matches this year. His deep runs in the recent Masters 1000 events sees him regularly on court battling against the best players in the world. With this in mind, he has re-looked at his schedule and opted to skip the Halle Open, leaving a three-week gap between Roland Garros and his title defence at Wimbledon.

The 2024 champion will not be making the trip to the grass courts in Germany this year. It is a significant piece of news with the Italian set to defend the Wimbledon title he won last year in supreme fashion, taking down the two-time winner Carlos Alcaraz in fine fashion to win a maiden major title away from hardcourts. It was also his last major triumph with Alcaraz winning the prior two.

Sinner will be defending his title after having a well-earned rest from the sport after he looks to complete the career Grand Slam at Roland Garros. With no Alcaraz, he will be the favourite to continue his insane streak of form. Having won the titles at Indian Wells, Miami Open, Monte-Carlo Masters and most recently the Madrid Open, Sinner is eyeing up more success, this time on home soil at the Rome Open. He has never won here before and would dearly love to get over the line to win a sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title.

He will then have a week off before the French Open commences. In total, Sinner has played in 23 matches over the past two months, winning all of them. If he is going to pick up the trophy in the Rome Open, he will need to secure another six wins before possibly another seven matches in Paris. This has made him decide not to step foot in Halle.

While the tennis fans attending the event may be slightly upset not to hear the world number one compete, they will be happy to see a stacked lineup of huge names ready to take to the court. The top seed will be one of their own in the form of Alexander Zverev. He has never won this title on home soil, or even a title on grass. This could be his chance with no Sinner.

The American contingent is also strong. There has not been a finalist representing the USA since Mardy Fish back in 2004. Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton will be hopeful of changing this record around. Especially Fritz who is a very capable player on grass, having won the titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne last year.

Reigning champion Alexander Bublik knocked out Sinner enroute to the title, getting the better of Daniil Medvedev in the final. They will eye another chance at success with Andrey Rublev, Flavio Cobolli and Frances Tiafoe among the names also listed to compete. The tournament will take place from June 15-21.