Top-Ranked Jannik Sinner Pulls Out of Paris Masters Citing a Virus

 Italy's Jannik Sinner looks on during the awards ceremony after his final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the "6 Kings Slam" exhibition tournament in Riyadh on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
Italy's Jannik Sinner looks on during the awards ceremony after his final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the "6 Kings Slam" exhibition tournament in Riyadh on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
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Top-Ranked Jannik Sinner Pulls Out of Paris Masters Citing a Virus

 Italy's Jannik Sinner looks on during the awards ceremony after his final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the "6 Kings Slam" exhibition tournament in Riyadh on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
Italy's Jannik Sinner looks on during the awards ceremony after his final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the "6 Kings Slam" exhibition tournament in Riyadh on October 19, 2024. (AFP)

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner has pulled out of the Paris Masters, citing a virus.

The Italian player, who is guaranteed to finish the year as No. 1, said in a message relayed by organizers that he is not able to play this week.

“I came very early here to prepare then I fell sick, I'm having a virus at the moment, which is going to pass the next two-three days, so bodywise I'm not ready to compete,” Sinner said.

Sinner is the second high-profile player to pull out of the final Masters 1000 event of the year following seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Sinner earlier this month beat Djokovic in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters, giving the Italian his tour-leading seventh title of the season. Sinner became the first man to win more than six titles in a season since Andy Murray won nine in 2016.

The victory for Sinner came after he lost the final of the China Open in Beijing to Carlos Alcaraz and amid an ongoing doping case.



Ronaldo Misses Late Penalty as Al-Nassr Eliminated from Saudi Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo by: Yazid Al-Samrani
Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo by: Yazid Al-Samrani
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Ronaldo Misses Late Penalty as Al-Nassr Eliminated from Saudi Cup

Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo by: Yazid Al-Samrani
Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo by: Yazid Al-Samrani

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a stoppage-time penalty and Al-Nassr was eliminated from the King’s Cup in a 1-0 loss to Al-Taawoun on Tuesday.
The five-time Ballon D’Or winner has yet to win a major trophy since signing for the club almost two years ago.
Playing at the round-of-16 stage of Saudi Arabia’s premier knockout competition, Al-Taawoun took the lead on Waleed Al-Ahmad's header with 20 minutes remaining. Al-Ahmad was then whistled for a foul in the area in the 95th minute.
Ronaldo had converted all 18 of his previous penalties for Al-Nassr but this time shot over the bar to the shock of the home crowd of 14,519.
The defeat is the first for Stefano Pioli since the Italian succeeded Luis Castro as head coach in September.
Ronaldo and Al-Nassr still have two chances at silverware this season but are already six points behind leader Al-Hilal after eight games of the Saudi Pro League and have seven points from three games in the group stage of the Asian Champions League.
“Technically we performed well but we couldn’t win the game,” Pioli said. “We feel disappointed to be out of the cup. But we still have two trophies to go for and we will give our best in them.”