Sinner has given an update on the hip injury that forced him out of Madrid and Rome, confirming that things are worse than he or his team initially thought. The 22-year-old held a press conference at the Foro Italico after withdrawing from his home tournament where he admitted that the issue was serious.

“We all thought it wasn’t a serious problem. I don’t want to say exactly what it is. If it wasn’t 100 per cent healed, I would be forced to stop playing for a long time,” the Australian Open champion said. And Sinner could now lose the chance to fight for his second Grand Slam title in Paris, as he addressed his hopes of making it to the French Open.

Sinner continued: “Roland Garros? We still have to decide a few things for Paris. The preparation will not be optimal. My team and I will do our best to get there with as high a percentage as possible to compete.”

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The 13-time title winner originally raised fears when he took painkillers and stretched out his hip during his Madrid Open match against Pavel Kotov on Monday. He managed to get the win and took to the court to defeat Karen Khachanov the following day. But he withdrew before his next match, citing the hip issue.

Sinner originally explained that he had been feeling his hip since Monte Carlo and that the problem was brought on by work in the gym. But after getting back some worrying results from his MRI scan, he realised something was wrong.

“Some injuries can be prevented, others cannot. So far we have done a great job. Last year I had an injury-free season. Like this year so far. Next year we will have to figure out whether to play Monte Carlo or not. You can’t be perfect at my age,” he said of his latest setback.

“In Madrid there were days when I felt the pain a bit more others when I didn’t feel it. I knew something was wrong. The day after the match with Khachanov, we saw from the MRI that there was something that was 100 per cent wrong.”

But Sinner isn’t sure whether there was anything he could have done to prevent it. He added: “It doesn’t mean that if someone gets hurt, a mistake has necessarily been made. I believe we did everything right. If I had to go back I wouldn’t know what I should have done differently.”

The French Open gets underway in three weeks. So far, Sinner has only played seven matches on the clay, four in Monte Carlo and three in Madrid. If he is ready to compete at Roland Garros, he will be relatively undercooked compared to his rivals.