Jannik Sinner has been eliminated from the French Open. (Image: Getty)
Jannik Sinner suffered a gigantic upset in the second round of the French Open after leading Juan Manuel Cerundolo by two sets and 5-1. The world No. 1 started struggling and lost 18 consecutive points, leaving the court in the middle of a game.
Sinner played on but only won two more games, suffering a 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 defeat at the hands of the world No. 56, the hot conditions getting the better of him. The real concerns came while the Italian was serving for the match for a second time at 5-4. He found himself facing three break points and started grabbing his leg and hip, sitting on the advertising boards at the side of the court.
The umpire came down to see what was happening, and the trainer quickly came to the court. Sinner told him: “I don’t feel well, I feel like I’m going to throw up.” As the supervisor watched courtside, the top seed left the court with the physio. Chair umpire Aurelie Tourte was heard telling Cerundolo that Sinner was having his blood pressure taken.
By this point, Sinner had lost 15 straight points. He had a medical evaluation off court but did not receive a full medical timeout. When he returned, he lost three more points, getting broken again.
Last year’s runner-up continued to fade away, and Cerundolo reeled off a sixth straight game to take the set 7-5, forcing a fourth. Sinner left the court for a comfort break, which players are allowed to take in between sets. He also took some tablets as the fourth set got started.
Sinner blew some break points early in the fourth and continued hobbling around the court. At one point, he seemed to be cramping, and he seemed to have a fizzy drink during one changeover. He quickly lost it 6-1 as the Argentine forced a decider.
The No. 1 seed tried to stay cool in the changeover, using a handheld fan. But he still couldn’t cool down and recover enough to put up a real fight. Sinner was broken again to start the decider, and things only got worse.
Jannik Sinner suffered his earliest Grand Slam defeat in three years (Image: Getty)
He quickly went 0-4 down as Cerundolo broke again. Once the Argentine took the double-break, the ending felt inevitable and the fans on Court Philippe-Chatrier braced themselves for what seemed impossible just a couple of hours earlier.
Sinner had a last-gasp look at a couple of break points but failed to take them. And he was broken for the eighth and final time to bow out of the tournament. This is Sinner’s earliest Grand Slam loss in exactly three years. It also brings his 30-match winning streak to an end, and is his first defeat since February 19.
With Sinner out and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz not competing here this year, this will be the first Grand Slam tournament not won by either man since the 2023 US Open, which saw Novak Djokovic beat Daniil Medvedev to win his 24th Major title. This will also be the first Slam final not featuring either Sinner or Alcaraz since the 2023 US Open.
It leaves the draw wide open. Djokovic, who turned 39 earlier this month, is the only former Grand Slam champion left in the men’s singles field. The No. 3 seed hasn’t looked unstoppable yet, dropping sets in his first two matches, and his French Open preparation consisted of one match at the Italian Open, which he lost. This had been seen as one of the most Grand Slam tournaments in recent years, with Sinner the odds-on favourite by a very considerable amount.
After getting the biggest win of his career, Cerundolo – whose brother is world No. 26 Francisco – told the crowd: “Of course it’s tough for him. He was leading the match like I couldn’t win more than three games [in a] set. So I think I was a little bit lucky and I feel sorry for him because he deserves to win a lot of Majors and he was of course deserving to win this match. But then I don’t know what happened, I think he was cramping maybe, or maybe the pressure – I don’t know – but I feel sorry for him and I hope he recovers.”
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