Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was eliminated from the French Open Thursday after visibly struggling with the sweltering heat in his match against Argentine opponent Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Jannik Sinner's bid for a maiden French Open title and career Grand Slam were cut short Thursday as he struggled with the heat in his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and fell to a 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 defeat.
Sinner won the opening two sets with ease and was up 5-1 in the third set before dropping three games and asking for medical treatment off the court, only to lose two straight sets before going down in the decider.
Sinner was on a 30-match winning streak stretching back to February and the odds were overwhelming he'd complete a career Grand Slam by winning the only big title missing in his tennis career – especially with two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz out due to an injured right wrist.
The temperature at the start of the match was 29 degrees C, and was forecast to rise to 33 C.
Sinner bent over on the clay court in apparent exhaustion multiple times and was hardly even running for shots as the match wore on, resorting to drop shots and serve-and-volley tactics to try and shorten the points.
He attempted to cool himself with a hand-held fan on changeovers and put bags of ice around his neck.
Sinner also struggled in the heat at the Australian Open against Eliot Spizzirri in January. The roof was closed and the third-round match swung his way.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AP)
