"We're confident": Darren Cahill provides encouraging update about Jannik Sinner fitness ahead of US Open

Italy’s Jannik Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill has provided some update about the player’s chances of featuring in the upcoming US Open 2025. The fourth and the final Grand Slam of the year will begin on August 24 in New York.

Sinner recently featured in the Cincinnati Open, where he was forced to retire from the final against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz because of feeling ill. Talking after the match, Sinner not only apologised to the fans and stated that he was feeling unwell since the day before and he tried his best to produce his best tennis but failed.

"I'm super sorry to disappoint you. From yesterday I didn't feel great, I thought I would improve but it came up worse,” said Sinner back then. "I tried to come out, to make it at least a small match, but I couldn't handle more. I am very sorry for all of you. I know that maybe some of you, on a Monday, you had to work or do something else, so I'm really sorry."

That sudden retirement from the contest raised doubts about whether Sinner will be able to play at the US Open. Clarifying those rumours, his coach, Cahill, has come out and expressed optimism that the reigning world number one will be fit enough to feature in the mega-event. "I spoke briefly with him last night. He was feeling a little better," said Cahill while speaking to ESPN. "He'll rest, that's the plan, and I hope he can get on the court on Thursday and start hitting some balls. We're confident he'll be fine."

Sinner, if manages to gain full fitness, will be defending his title in New York. He lifted the title last year after beating America’s Taylor Fritz in the final in straight sets. This year, Sinner has already lifted two major titles. He first defended the Australian Open title by beating Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

Sinner’s latest triumph in a Grand Slam came at Wimbledon, where he defeated Alcaraz in the final with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. In between that, Sinner suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the French Open to Alcaraz where he failed to capitalise in the fourth set when he had three Championship points and eventually lost the contest in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. The match lasted more than five hours and officially became the second-longest final in the history of Grand Slams.

After retiring from the final of the Cincinnati Open, Sinner spoke about his objectives going into the US Open and expressed his love for the Grand Slams. Sinner also expressed satisfaction about his performance in the recently concluded ATP 1000 event in Cincinnati.

"I love Grand Slams a lot,” said Sinner. “This is the main, main tournaments for my season and for my career. So US Open is going to be tough tournament, but in the same time, I'm looking forward to it. If I'm ready, physically and mentally, I will be ready to push. So as I said, now a couple of days of recovery, and then we get again back to work, and hopefully we'll be ready. So for sure, the main goal here in the US. Yeah, I feel like a very positive week. I mean, making finals of a Masters event, it's always an amazing achievement. I feel like in the season I'm playing, it's an incredible season. So we'll keep going, keep pushing as I say. Now I have already some points where I need to improve if I want to go far in the US Open. And it was a good test this week, trying to understand where my level is. My level is, is in a good spot, for sure, but in the other way, there's still room to improve."