Jannik Sinner Opens Up After Shock French Open Exit to Cerundolo: ‘I Need Time to Understand What Went Wrong’

Jannik Sinner’s bid for a maiden French Open title has ended in stunning fashion, with the world No 1 falling to Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in the second round at Roland Garros — his earliest Grand Slam exit in three years.

The Italian had appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable victory, establishing a commanding 6-3, 6-2, 5-2 lead before his physical condition deteriorated sharply in the third set. Sinner took a medical timeout at 5-4, but the intervention failed to arrest his decline. Cerundolo, ranked world No 54, subsequently won 15 of the next 17 games to complete one of the more remarkable turnarounds seen at the tournament in recent memory.

“I didn’t feel very good on the court — these things happen,” Sinner said at his post-match press conference. “During the third set, I started well, but then I began to struggle. Congratulations to him because he deserved it. His game was solid, and that’s sport.”

Sinner was candid about the extent of his physical difficulties during the match. “I felt unwell, my head was spinning, and I had no more energy. Nothing was coming out. I tried to serve for the match, but I didn’t have much left. I let the fourth set go, then the first game of the fifth was tough, I couldn’t hold on anymore, and everything started going downhill,” he explained. “I felt it this morning. I didn’t sleep very well and was already struggling a bit when I woke up.”

The 23-year-old was careful not to attribute his collapse solely to the playing conditions. “It was hot, but not excessively hot — the conditions were fine to play in. It was just me today, that’s how it happened,” he said.

Physical attrition has been a documented concern throughout Sinner’s career despite his considerable success at the top level. He was forced to retire during his third-set match against Tallon Griekspoor at the Shanghai Masters last year due to cramping. At January’s Australian Open, he came close to withdrawing against Eliot Spizzirri in the third round before eventually prevailing in four sets. Across all 18 five-set matches of his career, Sinner has won just six, and he has yet to win a match lasting longer than four hours.

Reflecting on those past episodes, Sinner drew comparisons while noting the differing circumstances in Paris. “In Shanghai, there was a lot of humidity, and in Australia it was extremely hot, I remember. It’s different on hard courts, where the heat comes from below. Here it was hot, but it was manageable — I wasn’t struggling because of the heat alone.”

The defeat carries significant consequences beyond the result itself. Sinner entered the tournament having won the season’s opening five Masters 1000 titles — becoming the only player in history to accomplish that feat — including the three clay-court events in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. With two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz also absent from this year’s draw, Sinner had been the tournament’s overwhelming favourite. He will now shed 1,250 ranking points, having reached last year’s final where he lost to Alcaraz in the longest final in the tournament’s history.

“It’s hard to accept, given my position, but that’s the way it is,” Sinner acknowledged. “I’m not going to play many tournaments before Wimbledon because I’ll need time to recover fully.”

When pressed on whether a lighter clay-court schedule might have better prepared him for Paris, Sinner was measured in his response. “You never know. If I hadn’t played Madrid or Rome, maybe I still would have come here and had a day like this where I felt sick. I won three tournaments on clay — incredible results and an amazing streak. It’s not what I was looking for here in Paris, but sometimes you just don’t know.”

Cerundolo will next face the winner of the match between Martin Landaluce and Vit Kopriva as he bids to extend his unexpected run into the latter stages of the tournament.