Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779017096_680_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Sinner\u2019s 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 loss ends an extraordinary duopoly of dominance from he and Carlos Alcaraz, whose title defence was ruined by a wrist injury, that saw the stars win the past nine grand slams.<\/p>\n
All eyes will now turn to Novak Djokovic, whose last title came at the US Open in 2023, as he strives to win a 25th grand slam title that would see him stand alone across all-comers when it comes to major singles titles.<\/p>\n
A raging favourite to complete the career Grand Slam in Paris, Sinner was in a dominant position when leading Cerundolo 6-3 6-2 5-1 when the heat stress that almost cooked him in Melbourne earlier this year struck again.<\/p>\n
Having dominated the clay court season on route to becoming the youngest man ever to complete a full set of Masters titles, Sinner won 17 of the first 23 games against Cerundolo. And then he hit the heat wall, claiming just two of the last 20 games.<\/p>\n
He later said that he awoke feeling below par and as a result tried to keep the points short, but \u201chit the wall\u201d. He was reluctant to attribute his collapse to the heat despite his history. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt this morning I didn\u2019t sleep very well. This morning when I woke up, I was struggling a bit, but you know, this can happen,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cUsually in Grand Slams you have a couple of days where you don\u2019t feel perfect. This was today.\u201d<\/p>\n
PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 28: Jannik Sinner of Italy looks dejected during his Men’s Singles second round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina during Day Five of the 2026 French Open at Roland Garros on May 28, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
But as Aussie Daria Kasatkina said after progressing to the third round, the players \u201care boiled and fried\u201d after an extended heat wave.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt difficult, to be honest. Because the afternoon sun, it feels even heavier than in the morning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s the conditions we (have) got for the whole week already, so I think all of the players already a bit boiled and fried. I mean, (it is) one thing is to play one or two days in those conditions, but then to spend the whole week still, like, practicing between the matches, some players playing doubles, you\u2019re still getting this hot weather in your veins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinner had the luckiest of escapes in Melbourne against Eliot Spizzirri when the heat policy was triggered at an opportune time, allowing him to refresh himself off the court as the Rod Laver Arena roof closed during his third round match.<\/p>\n
But the heat policy in Paris is starkly different and there was no delay in play nor closure of the roof this time. He was forced to struggle in the sunshine, something that has bothered several top-line players this week already.<\/p>\n
In extraordinary scenes, the four-time major champion dropped 15 points in a row when within a game of winning before taking a medical time out at 5-4 0-40 in the set after a discussion with the umpire as to whether he could stop immediately.<\/p>\n
Sinner later said he did not believe the heat was as exacting in Paris as other cities where he has had issues, but clearly he was troubled, as several other players have been as well this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Shanghai was very tough. (The) humidity is very high. Australia was very, very warm, I do remember. (But) it\u2019s different when you play on hard court, because the heat comes also underneath,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere … it was warm, but it was okay. It was not like I was dying because of the heat. I think today was completely different scenario, but again, this can happen. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to accept, of course, because of the position where I\u2019ve been in and everything considered.,<\/p>\n
now I have a lot of time to recover.\u201d <\/p>\n
The decision to allow Sinner to take leave from the court at 5-4 0-40 drew significant criticism.<\/p>\n
Commentating for US network TNT, dual-Australian Open champion Jim Courier was perplexed by the call to allow Sinner, who said he was dehydrated, to leave the court. Ultimately it did not alter the result but it raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is going to give him the benefit of the doubt in feeling this might be an injury. This is unquestionably not an injury. You don\u2019t get a medical time out for this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unbelievably lucky for him. This is unfair for Cerundolo. The clock should be counting. He should be getting penalised for this. This is not an injury. It is clearly cramping. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe love the top players. They drive the sport. But you have to apply the rules fairly. The rules are being bent for the top players. You cannot tell me you have to take him off court to check his vitals. This is absolute balony.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former British number one Tim Henman queried the decision of umpire Aurelie Tourte to approach him on the court when he was physically struggling. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe umpire shouldn\u2019t be getting off her chair. It\u2019s not her responsibility, that\u2019s the player\u2019s responsibility,\u201d he said on TNT.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see why he should get the benefit of going into an air-conditioned room.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to schedule Sinner for the midday match on Philippe Chatrier Stadium – it is customary for women to kickstart the day\u2019s play on centre court in Paris – had been dissected at length beforehand given the Italian\u2019s history in the heat.<\/p>\n
With the French capital in the midst of a heat wave, the temperature rises through the day with the hottest part of the afternoon tending to be between 3pm to 7pm this week. It was 32C when Sinner\u2019s campaign ended, with the feel factor higher.<\/p>\n
The stunning departure of Sinner opens the door for Novak Djokovic, the only former champion left in the draw, to push for a 25th grand slam title. The Serbian legend is due to play new sensation Joao Fonseca on Friday afternoon in Paris.<\/p>\n
PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 28: Jannik Sinner of Italy interacts with the match umpire during his Men’s Singles second round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina during Day Five of the 2026 French Open at Roland Garros on May 28, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Cerundolo, who remained calm when realising the peril his opponent was facing, was able to work the Italian over in the final three sets to reach the third round of a grand slam for the first time.<\/p>\n
He said afterwards he felt for his rival, who was clearly unwell but battled to the end in the hope his health might return.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I\u2019m super happy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I was a little bit lucky,. I feel sorry for him because he deserve to win a lot of matches and of course he was deserving to win in this match.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then I don\u2019t know what happened, I think he was cramping maybe, or maybe the pressure, I don\u2019t know. But of course I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinner, who played a significant amount of tennis through the sunshine swing at Indian Wells and Miami before winning the Monte Carlo Masters, the Madrid Masters and also the Italian Open, will take a break before defending his Wimbledon title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jannik Sinner has been the world\u2019s most dominant player for the past two months but the Italian\u2019s Achilles…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2620,2095,12910,64,63,689,962,336859,3567,50760,153925,2057,341157,13038,2592,1806,193699,190767,341156,22215,2328,46036,341153,341151,647,341154,2041,2067,3592,677,2591,341152,11298,3595,85,341155,37659,60861,2614,660,2062],"class_list":["post-700774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-america","tag-argentina","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-clay-court-season","tag-courtney-walsh","tag-dominant-player","tag-eliot-spizzirri","tag-europe","tag-feel-factor","tag-finish-line","tag-france","tag-grand-slam","tag-heat-policy","tag-heat-stress","tag-heat-wall","tag-heat-wave","tag-italy","tag-jim-courier","tag-match-umpire","tag-medical-time","tag-melbourne","tag-midday-match","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-oceania","tag-paris","tag-result-argentinian","tag-south-america","tag-southern-europe","tag-sports","tag-temperature-rises","tag-tennis-tournament","tag-top-players","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-western-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}