PARIS — Not since Rafael Nadal was stacking up his record 14 French Open titles had a player come to Roland Garros as such an overwhelming favorite to win the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.
Jannik Sinner had won everything there was to win in men’s tennis over the past three months: five straight Masters 1000 tournament titles — three of them on clay — and 30 straight matches.
And with second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, his biggest rival, out due to an injured right wrist, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion that Sinner would raise the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy and complete a career Grand Slam.
That’s why the Italian star’s meltdown amid the Paris heat wave was so stunning Thursday — especially after he came within just one game of concluding his second-round match in straight sets when he led 5-1 in the third.
The top-ranked Sinner struggled with dizziness and was beaten by 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1, after wasting two chances to serve for the match against the fellow 24-year-old.
“I didn’t feel very well on court,” Sinner said. “I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy, very low on energy. … In the beginning, I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I just kind of hit the wall.
“I didn’t have energy, really. I was very, very flat. The whole body. I don’t remember the last time I felt this weak.”
Sinner said he “didn’t feel very well” when he woke up Thursday, and it eventually showed as his stay at the year’s second major championship tournament came to a surprisingly early conclusion.
He bent over on the clay court in apparent exhaustion multiple times and was hardly even running for the ball as the match wore on, resorting to drop shots and serve-and-volley tactics in an attempt to shorten the points. He attempted to cool himself with a hand-held fan on changeovers and put bags of ice around his neck.
The temperature at the start of the match was 84 degrees Fahrenheit and rose to 90, though he deflected the opportunity to blame his loss on the conditions his opponent also faced.
“It was warm, but not crazy warm,” Sinner said. “I feel like it was quite OK to play. Really it was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.”
Cerundolo didn’t celebrate too much when it was over, just producing a little wave to the crowd.
“It’s tough for him,” Cerundolo said. “I couldn’t win more than three games by set, so I think I was a little bit lucky. … He was deserving to win in this match, and then I don’t know what happened. … I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers.”
Best known — at least until Thursday — as Francisco Cerundolo’s younger brother, he beat Sinner for the first time. The 27-year-old Francisco, who is ranked 26th and also advanced Thursday after beating France’s Hugo Gaston 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, has beaten Sinner twice in his career.
Nicknamed “Juanma,” the younger Cerundolo turned pro in 2018 after starting tennis when he was just 3 years old at their parents’ academy. He said he was inspired by fellow left-hander Nadal — who was the men’s singles champion at Roland Garros all but four years from 2005-22 — because of “how he plays and fights for every ball.”
Cerundolo’s favorite shot is the forehand — he struck 29 winners against Sinner in that manner — and his favorite tournament is none other than the French Open.
Undoubtedly even more so now.
When Sinner served for the match a second time at 5-4 in the third set, he bent over at love-40 and then walked to his chair. He asked for assistance and left the court. His entire light blue uniform was soaked through with sweat.
After losing the set 7-5, Sinner received medical attention and left the court. Minerals were added to his drink when he returned, but Sinner wasn’t able to recuperate.
Sinner lost 18 of the last 20 games. Asked if he considered retiring before the match ended, he said that in the “fifth set we all know everything can happen. I was in a tough spot.”
Sinner’s previous loss came Feb. 19 in the Qatar Open quarterfinals. He had won five straight Masters titles while dropping just three sets.
“We’ll definitely do some tests to be sure of what happened today,” he said.
“Let’s hope we’re ready for Wimbledon,” Sinner added of the year’s third Grand Slam tournament, which begins June 29 on the grass of the All England Club, where he is the reigning champion and Alcaraz will also be missing as he continues to recover from a right wrist injury. “To be ready there, we need to recuperate well and do things right now.”
Sinner has a history of struggling in the heat. He admitted he was lucky at the Australian Open in January against Eliot Spizzirri when the roof was closed and the third-round match swung his way. And he had to retire from a match in China in October that was contested amid extreme humidity.
“Shanghai was very tough. Humidity very high. Australia was very, very warm,” Sinner said. “Here, I mean it was warm, but it was OK. It was not like I was dying because of the heat. I think today was a completely different scenario.
“It’s tough to accept, of course, because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered,” added Sinner, who sportsbooks had listed at around -300 to win the tournament.
On the same Court Philippe Chatrier last year, Sinner wasted three match points and lost an epic final to Alcaraz, who repeated as the French Open champion.
That added another chapter to what is already an epic rivalry between the young stars. Thursday’s outcome meant that neither half would get the chance to celebrate at the end of this fortnight in Paris, but Cerundolo didn’t read too much into any long-term impact of one result.
“Tennis, it’s about being present in the day and being better in that match, and he’s the (No.) 1 in the world because he’s, you know, the best every day, so I think, no, no, no, I’m not the better in my head. Just happened this day, I was better this day, and I’m happy for it.”
In another notable match, 17-year-old Moise Kouame of France became the youngest player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam men’s singles bracket since Nadal was also 17 at Wimbledon in 2003. Kouame beat Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (8).
“This win is for you,” he told the crowd. “Thank you, because without you, honestly, I would never have won this match. … You don’t even realize how much you carried me with the way you kept shouting for me. When I found myself 5-3 down in the fifth, I never stopped believing.”
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime — at No. 4 the highest-seeded player left in the top half of the draw after Sinner’s exit — beat Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga, 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1.
Fifth-seeded Ben Shelton of the United States was upset by 62nd-ranked Belgian opponent Raphael Collignon, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, and American player Frances Tiafoe required nearly five hours to overcome Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4.
In women’s action, Japan’s Naomi Osaka put on another fashion show for her walk-on introduction before beating Croatia’s Donna Vekic, 7-6 (1), 6-4; reigning champion Coco Gauff of the U.S. beat Egypt’s Mayar Sherif, 6-3, 6-2; and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus — the runner-up last year — defeated French opponent Elsa Jacquemot, 7-5, 6-2.