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Jannik Sinner aims for Australian Open return after knee injury

The Italian world number two hopes to return in January after missing most of the season.

By , Editor

· 2 min read

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (file photo) Photo: Like tears in rain / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Jannik Sinner has not played since July and is targeting the Australian Open in January. He plans to change coaches, with Magnus Norman replacing Darren Cahill.

Key takeaways

  • Jannik Sinner last played competitively at Wimbledon in July 2025.
  • He has missed most of the season because of a right knee injury.
  • He hopes to return for the Australian Open in January.
  • Magnus Norman will replace Darren Cahill as coach.

Jannik Sinner, the Italian world number two, has said he wants to return for the Australian Open in January after a long absence with a knee injury. The 25-year-old last played a competitive match at Wimbledon in July 2025, where he won his fifth Grand Slam.

Sky Sports reported that he won the Melbourne title in 2024 and 2025 but was beaten by Novak Djokovic in this year's semi-final. Sinner has not played since July because of a right knee injury. S. Open and announced last month that his season was over.

Last week, Alexander Zverev took over the world number one ranking that Sinner held. Sinner is a five-time Grand Slam winner and was year-end number one in 2024. He has won 30 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including five majors, ten Masters and two ATP Finals titles.

He led Italy to back-to-back Davis Cup crowns in 2023 and 2024.

Coaching change

Sinner is making a change to his coaching setup. Darren Cahill, who was his coach for the last four years, has left the team. Sweden's Magnus Norman, former coach of Stan Wawrinka, will replace him.

Sportstar reported that Cahill said Sinner is responsible for 99 percent of what has been achieved, with the rest of the team contributing the final one percent. Sky Sports reported that Cahill was not involved in the decision to hire Norman.

Sinner said Norman worked with Wawrinka for many years and accepts the way Sinner is already working, so he does not have to change everything all over again. Sinner also said Cahill was like a second dad and that the two will remain close friends.

Rehabilitation and return plans

Sinner said the goal is to go to Australia and that he hopes to play a few tournaments beforehand.

He said he needs to follow protocols without rushing things and take care of his body because he wants to keep playing for another 10 to 15 years.

Deccan Chronicle reported that Sinner plans to return from injury at an exhibition event at the end of December as part of his preparations for the Australian Open.

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. The Six Kings Slam awards money but no ATP ranking points.

Sinner won the second edition of the tournament last year. He said that if he wants to prepare for Australia and has not played since Wimbledon, some matches before might be very helpful.

About the Australian Open

The Australian Open is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments every year, held before the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

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