By Estea Rademeyer.
Jannik Sinner’s second-round exit from Roland Garros shocked the tennis world. Even more striking was his collapse in the third set, after building a commanding lead and coming just four points from victory.
Sinner reportedly felt dizzy and nauseated as severe cramping set in. At the other end of Court Philippe-Chartier, world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo watched the momentum swing dramatically in his favour. Sinner would win only two more games in the set and eventually lose the match 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1.
“I woke up this morning, didn’t feel very well. I just kind of hit the wall,” Sinner said afterwards. “It was nothing against the weather; it was just me today.”
Many critics and onlookers were not convinced. Sitting in his chair with an ice pack around his neck and a fan blowing in his face, the impact of the heat was undeniable. At 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 up, a player on a 30-match winning streak would normally have closed out the match — especially in milder conditions. Instead, Sinner hit the wall. He has historically struggled in intense heat and has never won a Grand Slam match lasting more than four hours.
Sinner’s issues with heat and humidity are not new. Severe cramping forced him to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters last year, and he showed signs of discomfort against Medvedev in the recent Rome semi-finals.
Yesterday, fortune initially smiled on Sinner again. As he gripped his cramping leg, chair umpire Aurélie Tourte paused the serve clock. After he reported dehydration symptoms, he was allowed to go to an air-conditioned locker room for a blood pressure check. This came after a similar narrow escape in Melbourne — the second year in a row that extreme weather nearly derailed his Australian Open campaign.
It is Sinner’s use of off-court medical breaks that is rubbing some people the wrong way. “This is unfair for Cerundolo. It’s clearly cramping,” said commentator Jim Courier. “The rules are being bent for the top players… This is absolute baloney.”
The rules clearly state that players are not allowed to leave the court for cramps. Just one day earlier, 26th seed Jakub Mensik suffered excruciating cramps and was penalised with two time violations for delaying play.
While it is common for players to claim a muscle strain when suffering from cramps, the top players often appear to receive greater leniency.
Commenting on TNT Sports, Tim Henman said that while off-court evaluations are necessary for genuine injuries, allowing ten minutes in an air-conditioned room for a basic assessment felt inappropriate.