It was the news that many feared, but no one wanted to hear.

Doubts began floating around Jannik Sinner’s participation at the Olympic Games on Tuesday, when reports stated he was postponing his arrival in Paris owing to a “fever”.

Now, the world No 1 has announced that he has been suffering from tonsilitis, and will not be flying to the French city for his Olympic debut.

It is the first time since Pete Sampras in 2000 that the current ATP world No 1 has not competed at the Olympics, and it affects the dynamics of the men’s draw dramatically.

We take you through how this affects Thursday’s men’s singles draw.

Djokovic and Alcaraz benefit

Sinner’s withdrawal is not what Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz would have wanted to see, but both guys have clearly gained from it.

Up until today, Djokovic was supposed to be the second seed, while Alcaraz was due to be the third seed — and drawn into the same half as one of Sinner or the Serbian.

Now, world No 2 Djokovic will be the top seed while his Spanish counterpart will be the second seed.

This assures that the two men – who contested the Wimbledon final less than two weeks ago – cannot meet until the gold medal match, or maybe the bronze medal match.

Who else moves up?

Sinner’s withdrawal has a knock-on impact across the rest of the men’s singles draw.

One of them to gain is Daniil Medvedev, who will be racing as a neutral athlete in Paris.

The world No 5 was expected to be the fifth seed at the Games but will now be seeded fourth, and cannot face Djokovic, Alcaraz, or third seed Alexander Zverev until the last four.

Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas will now be seeded eighth and be the highest-ranked player in one-sixth of the draw, and will not be predicted to face anyone ranked above him until the quarter-finals.

Alex de Minaur will now be the fifth seed, with Casper Ruud seeded sixth and Taylor Fritz seventh, the latter two men already having moved up one spot after Hubert Hurkacz’s withdrawal on Tuesday.

Home stars Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils will now be the 10th and 15th seeds respectively, while Alejandro Tabilo will now be seeded, the Chilean moving to No 16.

Men’s singles seeds after Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal (24th July 2024)

1) Novak Djokovic, Serbia

2) Carlos Alcaraz, Spain

3) Alexander Zverev, Germany

4) Daniil Medvedev, ANA

5) Alex de Minaur, Australia

6) Casper Ruud, Norway

7) Taylor Fritz, United States

8) Stefanos Tsitsipas, Greece

9) Tommy Paul, United States

10) Ugo Humbert, France

11) Holger Rune, Denmark

12) Lorenzo Musetti, Italy

13) Sebastian Baez, Argentina

14) Felix Auger-Aliassime, Canada

15) Arthur Fils, France

16) Alejandro Tabilo, Chile