Sinner Sets Australian Open as Comeback Target After Knee Layoff

Sinner said in a press conference in Milan on Tuesday that Melbourne is the goal, and possibly a tournament or two before it. He was blunt about the risk of rushing: if the team pushes too hard, the problems could get more serious. He added that his camp originally set an impossible target for his return, so they changed course, and that as a tennis player rather than a doctor, his only option is to trust the people around him.

The 25-year-old Italian has not played since winning Wimbledon in July, his fifth grand slam title in under three years and a follow-up to his first major at the 2024 Australian Open. The absence ended his reign at world No.1, with Zverev taking over after Sinner's 95 weeks at the summit. He said he misses competing but that protecting his body matters more, because he wants to keep playing for another 10 to 15 years.

His likely return is the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Riyadh in late December, which was postponed because of the conflict in the Middle East. Sinner called that the target but noted the wider situation is not the best and that scheduling is not the players' call. Even so, he said some matches before Australia could be very helpful given how long he has been sidelined.

Darren Cahill, the Australian coach who guided Sinner's rise, stepped down last week after four years in his corner. Sweden's Magnus Norman, a former world No.2 who spent years working with Stan Wawrinka, has joined the set-up. Cahill said he was not part of the selection process but called it an excellent choice, pointing to a 2013 tweet of his about Norman's knack for improving every player he coaches.

Sinner described Cahill as a second dad and said the two will stay close friends, adding that Norman accepts how the team already operates, which means he does not have to rebuild everything. His own benchmark is simple: adding 1 per cent each year. Cahill's version is that a coach has to ask plenty of questions to get inside a player's mind and earn trust, and that 99 per cent of what the team has achieved belongs to Sinner, with everyone else supplying the final 1 per cent.