Flavia Pennetta cuts to the chase about Jannik Sinner

In an interview with *Corriere dello Sport*, Flavia Pennetta didn’t make a big deal out of Jannik Sinner’s failure to return to competition in Beijing, as he has been sidelined since the Wimbledon final. The South Tyrolean champion has a knee injury that forced him to skip the U.S. Open, and he still hasn’t set a definite date for his return.

“Sinner got hurt, so he’s out,” Pennetta explained. “An athlete has to factor in injuries. He has a dedicated support staff; he’ll return when he feels ready. The hope is that he’ll be there for the Davis Cup and the Finals. Jannik pushes himself really hard—if your body is sending you signals, why take the risk?”

The former Italian tennis player agrees that the speed of modern tennis contributes to physical problems: “Modern tennis requires explosiveness; it’s hard to go back to how it was 10–15 years ago. Of course, I don’t even know how far we can push it because that’s just how the human body is. Just think of the one-handed backhand: among the top 30 in the world, at most two players will use it.”

Adriano Panatta also expressed a similar view, speaking on *Domenica Sportiva* in an unusually serious tone. The former Italian champion pointed to modern tennis as the main culprit behind the surge in injuries that characterized 2026: “We need to be very careful, because injuries have more than doubled. Today, tennis players—both in their lower and upper bodies—play in a truly extraordinary way and must always hit the ball with great force. They’re always going at 200 per hour.” Panatta then added: “A single tournament today, in terms of physical and mental effort, is equivalent to two of the ones we played in my day, so they’re forced to adjust their training plans. But injuries keep happening—to the arm, the back, and all the joints. This isn’t right.”