
Jannik Sinner’s hopes of adding a French Open title to his collection ended early this year, with the Italian falling in the second round at Roland Garros.
Sinner was up by two sets before Juan Manuel Cerundolo turned things around, pulling off an impressive five-set win on Thursday to move into the third round.
After the match, Sinner told reporters he’d been feeling unwell since that morning, which might explain some of the physical struggles he showed during play.
Sinner played on until the end rather than retire. But former world number one Caroline Wozniacki felt his team should have done more to support him during the match.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Wozniacki said: “All of this is just so crazy. We were talking about how big a favourite he was. He had a 98% chance of winning this match today, and then he cramps, and his body just shuts down.
“What I was most surprised about was how he did not take a break after the fourth set? You could still go to the bathroom, cool down, take some ice, put some cold water.”
“Do anything to just cool yourself off. But he stayed out there and continued to play. He also did not take pickle juice.”
“His team seemed a little bit subdued; they did not seem like they were yelling much or trying to help. It just seemed a little bit off. Maybe they were all just like wow, there is nothing we can do at this point.”
According to Opta Ace, Sinner has become just the second top seed in the past two decades to be knocked out in the second round of a men’s singles Grand Slam.
The only other player to do so was Rafael Nadal, who exited at the same stage during his 2023 Australian Open title defence.
Sinner’s early exit also marks his poorest Grand Slam showing since 2023 when he also lost in the second round of Roland Garros.
The four-time major champion will drop 1,250 ATP points as a result, reducing his total from 14,750 to 13,500.
Despite this drop, Sinner will hold on to his number one ranking. Carlos Alcaraz remains in second place with 9,960 points after losing 2,000 points for missing Roland Garros a year after winning it.
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