Jannik Sinner revealed he “hit the wall” but insisted heat did not play a factor after the French Open favourite dramatically blew a seemingly unassailable lead to crash out in five sets and leave the tournament wide open.
The world No 1 had won his last 30 matches in a row and led Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3 6-2 5-1, appearing to be on the brink of the third round.
But as the temperature climbed above 30 degrees, Sinner suddenly wilted. The Italian said he felt dizzy and had “no energy”, managing just two more games as Cerundolo completed an astonishing comeback.
“I woke up this morning and didn’t feel very well,” Sinner explained. “I tried to keep the the points very short in the beginning. I was hitting very clean, very good and then I just kind of hit the wall and that’s it.
“It was warm, but not crazy warm. I feel like it was quite okay to play and really it was was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.”
Sinner’s stunning collapse means that for the first time since the 2023 US Open, a grand slam tournament will be won by someone other than Sinner or his rival Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz, last year’s French Open champion, is absent in Paris due to injury. It leaves Novak Djokovic, bidding for his 25th grand slam title, without his two biggest rivals.
Jannik Sinner: ‘I don’t remember last time I felt this weak’
Jannik Sinner confirms he did not consider retiring from the match but was feeling “very flat” through to the fourth and fifth sets.
“Today was just not meant to be. I think many things together you know uh caused this this problem today, but again it can happen. I just need my time now you to process what went wrong here.
“The fourth set I let go to recover physically and fifth set we all know everything can happen but it was tough. I was in a tough spot in the fourth and also in the fifth. I didn’t have energy, was very very flat, the whole body. I don’t remember last time I felt this weak. I tried to stay there with all I had today and this was the maximum I had.”
Jannik Sinner says conditions ‘completely different’ to previous struggles in Shanghai and Australia
“Shanghai was very tough for humidity, very high. Australia was very, very warm. It’s different when you play on hardcourt because the heat comes also underneath. Here 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. This can happen. It’s tough to accept of course because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered.
“Now I have a lot of time to recover. I won’t play any tournaments on grass before Wimbledon. I really need some time off to recover completely, also mentally, and then be ready to go again from from Wimbledon.”
Jannik Sinner: ‘Nothing against the heat – it was just me today’
Jannik Sinner says he started feeling as if he didn’t have any energy during the third set, but denies that had anything to do with the heat in Paris. He explains he didn’t sleep well last night and didn’t feel well when he woke up.
“It was warm but not crazy warm. I feel like it was quite okay to play and really it was was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.
“I felt this morning that I didn’t sleep very well. This morning when I woke up was struggling a bit, but you know this can happen.
“Usually in grand slams you always have a couple of days where you don’t feel perfect. This was today. And yeah, this happened.”
Jannik Sinner explains sudden collapse at French Open
Jannik Sinner, speaking in his press-conference after his shock defeat at the French Open.
“Didn’t feel very well on court, but can happen. Was in a good spot, also in third set, but I couldn’t couldn’t serve it out and then struggled quite a bit. Also congrats to him, I don’t want to take I don’t want to take anything away from him. He played a very solid match, especially also in the end, and that’s the sport.
“I started to feel very dizzy, very low of energy. I tried to to serve it out [in the third] but didn’t have a lot of energy. Fourth set I let it go a little bit trying to have a bit more energy in the fifth. Very important game, the first one, but couldn’t hold and then it went all a bit downwards.
“I woke up this morning didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the the points very short in the beginning. I was hitting very clean, very good and then I just kind of hit the wall and that’s it.”
Why Jannik Sinner’s unthinkable French Open defeat is a huge wake-up call
Jannik Sinner was the biggest pre-tournament favourite at Roland Garros since Rafael Nadal in 2009 and his shock second-round defeat should alert every player in the draw while Carlos Alcaraz is absent.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s brother is also through
Francisco Cerundolo, the 25th seed, is also through to the third round. He will come off court to hear that his younger brother has knocked out top seed Jannik Sinner, and I’m sure he won’t even believe them. Actually, everyone coming off court today is going to get a boost by today’s unexpected news.
Biggest French Open upset since 2009?
Jannik Sinner is the first No 1 seed to lose at the French Open before the third round since Karol Kučera in 2000.
In terms of upsets, though, this has to be up there with Rafael Nadal’s first Roland Garros defeat in 2009, which was in the fourth round.
Moise Kouame, 17, makes more French Open history after victory over grand slam champion
With the French Open crowd chanting his name and the teenage wildcard leading their ferocious roars, the sensational Moise Kouame made more history as he advanced to the third round on his first appearance at a grand slam tournament in a remarkable five-set win.
The 17-year-old Frenchman, who became the youngest man to win a match at Roland Garros since 1991 when he defeated former grand slam champion Marin Cilic in the first round, is now the youngest man to reach the third round of a grand slam since Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2003.
Kouame, ranked 313 in the world, secured just the third tour-level victory of his career on Thursday, and did so the hard way as he defeated Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo in a five-set epic lasting nearly five hours 6-3 7-5 3-6 2-6 7-6 (10/8).
Somehow, in by far the longest match of his life and first five-setter, Kouame produced an astonishing surge of energy to get over the line.
Jannik Sinner’s patten of struggling in the heat
There is a patten of Jannik Sinner struggling in the heat and it is becoming his Kryptonite.
He then had a fortunate escape against Eliot Spizzirri in this season’s Australian Open, suffering cramps as temperatures reached 36 degrees before the tournament’s extreme heat rule was enforced and Sinner was able to recover before progressing in four sets.
There was no escape, this time, as his dream of completing the career grand slam melted away.
French Open blown wide open
So much to unpack from the biggest upset in YEARS. It means that for the first time since the 2023 US Open, there will be a grand slam champion other than Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, who is absent in Paris due to injury.
It this Novak Djokovic’s year? He has a tough match tomorrow against Joao Fonseca.
On Sinner’s side of the draw, Felix Auger-Aliassime is now the highest seed, but that half is going to produce a first-time French Open finalist.
