Masters 1000: The 4 Cursed Champions Who Withdrew After Their Title
It's a scenario no one could have written. Even less so for Jannik Sinner, world number 2, reigning champion at Cincinnati and Shanghai. And yet, the Italian prodigy has just joined a club as discreet as it is bitter: that of players who withdrew from Masters 1000 events the year following their title victory.
A very exclusive club, which nonetheless includes big names:
- Greg Rusedski, forced to throw in the towel in Paris in 1999,
- Marat Safin, stopped short in Montreal in 2001,
- Andy Roddick, forced to withdraw in Miami in 2005,
- And now Jannik Sinner, who has accumulated not one, but two consecutive withdrawals as defending champion, at Cincinnati then Shanghai in this 2025 season.
Since the creation of the Masters 1000, these scenarios have been exceptionally rare. Champions, even when hampered, almost always try to defend their crown, often until the very end. Sinner, however known for his endurance and ability to play through pain, this time had to concede twice: ill in Cincinnati, extreme fatigue in Shanghai.
