By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) – Jannik Sinner’s bid for a maiden French Open title and career Grand Slam went up in smoke on a scorching Thursday as the world number one struggled with illness and a lack of energy in a 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 second-round loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Sinner arrived in Paris as the hot favourite for the title after claycourt triumphs in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, with his main rival and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ruled out with injury and Novak Djokovic searching for his best form.
But Cerundolo tore up the script in a dramatic clash where he held his nerve even as last year’s runner-up Sinner crumbled while on the verge of a big victory, sending shockwaves through Roland Garros.
“I started to feel very dizzy,” Sinner told a packed press conference.
“I tried to serve it out, but didn’t have a lot of energy. In the fourth set, I let it go a little bit trying to have a bit more energy in the fifth. It was an important game, the first one. I couldn’t hold. Then it went a bit downwards.
“I woke up this morning, I didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the points short. In the beginning, I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I just hit the wall, that’s it.”
STREAKS BROKEN
Sinner’s loss ended his 30-match winning run going back to March and also snapped the nine-Grand-Slam streak of ‘Sincaraz’ championship victories, but the early signs on Thursday hardly pointed to anything other than a comfortable outing.
As the temperature climbed over the 30 degrees Celsius mark for the first time in the afternoon, Sinner had already breezed through the first set on the back of a solitary break, and the 24-year-old Italian looked to be in cruise mode.
“It was warm, but not crazy warm,” Sinner added.
“I feel like it was quite okay to play. Really it was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.”
Sinner also hailed his opponent for seeing out the win.
“I don’t want to take anything away from him,” he added.
“He played a very solid match, especially in the end, and that’s the sport.”
Cerundolo offered resistance towards the end of the second set, but the 56th-ranked Argentine was left with a mountain to climb after Sinner unleashed a huge forehand winner to double his lead in the match for the loss of only five games.
The four-times Grand Slam champion cooled off with an ice towel in the break and turned up the intensity on his unseeded opponent in the third set to go 5-1 ahead, before he began to struggle and halted play when serving at 5-4.
“I wanted to vomit but I couldn’t,” the Italian was heard saying to an official, before he stepped off the court for a medical timeout.
Cerundolo said he felt for his opponent.
“It’s tough for him. He was winning the match. I couldn’t win more than three games (in two sets),” he said.
“I think I was a little bit lucky, I feel sorry for him … he was serving to win this match, but then I don’t know what happened. I think he was cramping maybe, or maybe it was the pressure of the match, I don’t know.
“But of course I feel sorry for him and I hope he recovers. I’m super happy. I’m going to keep trying to play my best… I hope to be ready for the next match.”
MAJOR UPSET
Sinner returned five minutes later and was immediately broken for 5-5, and dropped the next two games to hand the set to his Argentine opponent, who sensed the chance to pull off a major upset in Paris.
Hitting heavier to quicken the points and also serving and volleying frequently, Sinner looked desperate to avoid the exit but his troubles only increased as he began to clutch his right thigh in the fourth set, which he surrendered tamely.
“I don’t remember last time I felt this weak, but it is what it is,” Sinner added. “I tried to stay there with all I had, and this was the maximum I had.”
Quickly losing control, Sinner was broken early in the decider, as Cerundolo took full advantage to leave the Paris Grand Slam without its title favourite and Djokovic with a golden opportunity to win a standalone 25th major.
Should Djokovic miss out, Alexander Zverev looms as another top contender to finally break his Grand Slam duck after losing three major title clashes, with several other dark horses also looking to capitalise.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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