Portugal Colonial - Injured Sinner back on road to French Open

The Italian posted on social media photos of himself with racquet in hand on a clay court in Monaco on Saturday evening, eight days before Roland Garros starts on May 26.

Sinner accompanied the images with a series of emojis, one a sword, another the French flag, referencing his battle to make the second Grand Slam of the season in Paris.

When the Australian Open champion pulled out of Rome he said he would only compete in the French Open if he was fully fit.

The hip injury forced him to retire from the Madrid Open at the start of the month before his quarter-final match.

Announcing his absence from Rome at a press conference he said: "I don't want to go into details (of the injury). We thought initially that it wasn't anything serious but the scans showed that there was something that wasn't right.

"One thing is sure, if I've not 100 percent recovered I will take more time out as I do not want to lose three years of my career."

He added: "My preparation for Paris won't be optimal because I won't have much time, but what is sure is that I will give everything in order to be in a position to play."

The 22-year-old won the Australian Open, his first Slam title, in January and followed that up with his second Masters 1000 crown in Miami in March.

S.Pimentel--PC