Jannik Sinner has not hit a competitive ball since July. He finally has a target date.

The Italian star said Tuesday that he plans to return at an exhibition at the end of December as he prepares for the Australian Open in January.

Sinner, 25, has been out since beating Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final. A right knee injury forced him out of the U.S. Open. Ongoing problems with the knee kept him sidelined and he announced last month that his season was over.

Respecting the process

"The aim is to go to Australia, the aim is also maybe to do a couple of tournaments first," Sinner said at a sponsor event in Milan. "But I have to respect the protocols at the moment because if we rush things we could have more serious problems."

One of the events he has his eye on is the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia. The exhibition was pushed back to late December because of the conflict in the Middle East. Sinner won last year's edition. It offers prize money but no ranking points.

"We all know the situation what's there at the moment, which is not the best, so this is not our decision as players," he said. "But I think if we want to prepare for Australia and I'm not playing since Wimbledon, some matches before might be very helpful."

A new No. 1

Sinner's long layoff cost him the top spot. Zverev took over the No. 1 ranking last week, ending Sinner's run of 95 weeks at the top.

Sinner said for now he only knows that he has to "work hard every day for that objective and then we'll see."