Australian Open chiefs accused of giving in to ‘lucky’ Jannik Sinner | Tennis | Sport

The Australian Open‘s decision-makers have given in to all of Jannik Sinner‘s wishes with his scheduling for his fourth-round match against Luciano Darderi, according to Jamie Murray. Second seed and defending champion Sinner takes on his fellow Italian, the 22nd seed, for a spot in the quarter-finals of the first Grand Slam of 2026.

But rather than playing on the showpiece Rod Laver Arena court, the world No.2 has been moved to the smaller Margaret Court Arena. It is his first match on the second-biggest showcourt at Melbourne Park since 2024, when he beat Karen Khachanov in the fourth round. He has played nine consecutive matches on the 14,820-seater Rod Laver Arena since then.

And Murray, a winner at this Grand Slam in the doubles event and also the brother of five-time Australian Open runner-up Andy, believes the organisers have shown favour to Sinner. The Italian will avoid the kind of brutal heat he struggled with during his win over Eliot Spizzirri, during which he suffered badly from cramping and appeared at risk of a gigantic upset.

Murray told TNT Sports: “Yeah I’m surprised but I think I know why that’s happened. I think they, him and his team, didn’t want him playing in the day and have requested to play at night.

“He also wouldn’t have wanted to play the second night match because who knows when he might finish. I think he was trying to have his cake and eat it, and so he’s on Margaret Court.”

Tim Henman, stood alongside Murray, thinks Sinner has gotten “lucky”. He added: “Look, players and coaches can put in requests…” When a laughing Murray interjected and told Henman, “you can agree with me, it’s OK!”, the former British No.1 then added: “No, no I’m going to agree with you. I’m just sort of painting the picture.

“It’s very difficult at this stage of the tournament when everyone is saying ‘Well I want to play here, I don’t want to play there.’

“At the end of the day it comes down to the referee, and the tournament director and chief exec Craig Tiley to make that decision. So they have accommodated Sinner. I think he’s lucky. He was lucky with the roof being closed when he was cramping. He’s got a very favourable schedule there.”

Sinner’s four-set win over Spizzirri in the last round saw temperatures approach 38 degrees Celsius. After limping over to his player box to discuss his physical struggles, Sinner was broken to leave him trailing 3-1 before the roof was closed due to the Australian Open’s extreme heat policy.

A rejuvenated Sinner broke Spizzirri twice on his return to the court and won the set on his way to a hard-fought victory. The four-time Grand Slam winner admitted after: “I got lucky with the heat rule and the roof closing. I took my time and as the time passed I felt better and better.”

While Spizzirri said: “I smiled a little bit when the heat rule went into effect. I wouldn’t say he got saved by it. He’s too good of a player to say that but, at the same time, it was challenging timing, and that’s just the nature of the sport.”