Sinner's final 7 words before retiring against Alcaraz in Cincinnati Open final: ‘Sorry guys…’

With Jannik Sinner retiring from the match, Carlos Alcaraz won the Cincinnati Open 2025 final.

Published on: Aug 19, 2025, 02:18:09 IST

By Shuvrajit Das Biswas

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Carlos Alcaraz has won the Cincinnati Open 2025 final, but indicated he wanted the game to play out differently. The Spaniard won after Jannik Sinner, his rival, had to retire from the game.

Jannik Sinner was down 5-0 and looking a shell of himself, though fans were anticipating a hotly fought contest after Alcaraz won the French Open and Sinner clinched Wimbledon. (Reuters)

Sinner was down 5-0 and looking a shell of himself, though fans were anticipating a hotly fought contest after Alcaraz won the French Open and Sinner clinched Wimbledon. However, this was not to be, and Sinner soon spoke to the game umpire, communicating he was feeling ill.

Also Read | Cincinnati Open 2025: How much prize money did Carlos Alcaraz win?

A medical timeout followed, when a doctor and physio tended to Sinner. Despite their best attempts, Sinner could not make it back to court. The Spaniard was quick to show class, signing the camera, saying ‘Sorry Jannik’.

Sinner's last words before retiring from the match

Unable to continue after just 20 minutes, Sinner told the doctor and the physio: “Sorry guys, I tried but I can't.”. This gave Alcaraz his first Cincinnati Open title of his career.

He also apologized to the audience during the trophy ceremony at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio.

“I’m super, super sorry to disappoint you. From yesterday I didn’t feel great. I thought that I would improve during the night, but it came up worse. I tried to come out, tried to make it at least a small match, but I couldn’t handle more, so I’m very sorry," he said as per ATP Tour.

Sinner also praised Alcaraz for the win.

The Spaniard, meanwhile, said “This is not the way that I want to win trophies, I just have to say sorry, I can understand how you must feel now. As I said many times, you are a true champion and I am sure from these situations, you are going to come back even stronger, as you always do. That’s what true champions do. I’m sorry and come back stronger.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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