Jannik Sinner dramatically blew a seemingly unassailable lead after suddenly struggling in the heat to leave the French Open wide open in a stunning blow for the tournament favourite.
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 in Paris, Sinner suddenly wilted in the Paris heat. He lost 15 points in a row before he took a medical timeout and left the court for a medical evaluation.
Sinner, who said he felt sick and dizzy, returned to court, but Cerundolo extended the streak to six games in a row and forced a fourth set. But Sinner’s usual movement, timing and power all deserted him, and did not return with Cerundolo completing an astonishing comeback in five sets.
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: ‘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.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo: ‘I was a bit lucky’
Let’s hear it for Juan Manuel Cerundolo, the 24-year-old who has just pulled off the biggest win of his life. His brother, Francisco Cerundolo, may join him in the third round, too.
“It’s tough for him. I couldn’t win more than three games in a set. I was a bit lucky, I feel for him because he deserves to win a lot of majors and he was serving to win this match. I don’t know what happened, cramping maybe, or the pressure, but I hope he recovers.
“I’m super happy. I tried to play my best. Clay is my best surface and I hope to be ready for the next match.”
Jannik Sinner was the biggest pre-tournament favourite since Rafael Nadal
Without Carlos Alcaraz in the draw, Jannik Sinner was the biggest pre-tournament favourite since Rafael Nadal in 2009; Nadal, famously, suffered his first defeat at Roland Garros that year, to Robin Soderling.
Sinner had won 30 matches in a row since February; he had won all 18 matches he had played on clay this year. After one of the most dominant seasons in tennis history, Sinner has suffered his earliest grand slam exit in three years. The unthinkable.
