Jannik Sinner suffered the biggest upset of this year’s French Open, retiring from a winning position before losing a five-set second-round match to Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo in stifling Paris heat. Cerundolo came from two sets down to prevail 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1.
World number one Sinner entered Roland Garros as the overwhelming favourite, bidding to complete a career Grand Slam and extend a 30-match winning streak that included five consecutive Masters 1000 titles. Expectations were heightened further by the absence of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and with Novak Djokovic in the later stages of his career.
Sinner dominated the opening stages, racing to a two-set lead and moving 5-1 up in the third. But the match turned dramatically when the 24-year-old began to show clear physical distress. He slowed visibly, his groundstrokes lost power and he began walking gingerly between points. At 5-4 while serving for the match, Sinner doubled over and summoned the trainer, reporting dizziness and nausea and taking an off-court medical timeout.
Though he returned to the court and took lengthy breaks between sets, Sinner never regained his earlier form. Cerundolo seized the momentum, edging the third set before running through the fourth and fifth as Sinner struggled to move and generate pace. The Argentine, ranked 56th in the world, remained composed and capitalised as Sinner faded.
The match took place in unusually hot conditions for Paris, with temperatures topping the mid-30s Celsius. Heat has troubled Sinner before this season; he cramped at the Australian Open and has previously said extreme temperatures are a vulnerability.
Sinner’s defeat is his first since February and his first loss on clay this year. It also suddenly opens up the men’s draw, leaving Djokovic among the favourites for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title. Cerundolo advances to face Spain’s Martin Landaluce in the third round, after Landaluce also won a five-set match to progress.
For Sinner, the abrupt exit ends a high-profile bid for Roland Garros glory and shifts the focus to recovery and the remainder of the season.
