Jannik Sinner breaks silence on shock French Open loss and issues worrying health update | Tennis | Sport

Jannik Sinner has issued a worrying health update following his shock exit from this year’s French Open. The world No.1 had taken the first two sets 6-3 6-2 against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and looked to be in cruise control at 5-1 in the third, with a place in the third round well within his grasp.

Things began to fall apart in the third set as Sinner started struggling physically and left the court with the trainer in the middle of a game. He only won two more games, losing 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 on another hot day in Paris, watching his 2026 French Open hopes crumble in front of his exasperated eyes. Sinner has struggled in the heat in the past – he retired from last year’s Shanghai Masters while cramping in the humidity, and survived a scare in the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

But the Italian dispelled suggestions that the heat was behind his sudden collapse against Cerundolo, and said he woke up feeling unwell. Addressing what happened from 5-1 in set three, Sinner said: “I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy. Very low of energy. Tried to serve it out, but didn’t have a lot of energy. Fourth set, I let it go a little bit trying to have a bit more energy in the fifth. Very important game the first one. Couldn’t hold. Then it went a bit downwards.

“But, yeah, woke up this morning, didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the points very short. Also in the beginning I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I just kind of hit the wall, and that’s it.”

The four-time Major champion first started feeling it in the middle of the third set. “Even though I was playing some great tennis, but really couldn’t find any energy today. It was a tough spot to be in,” he explained. “But, again, this is the sport. It was warm, but not crazy warm. I feel like it was quite okay to play. Really it was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens.

“The third set I let go to recover also physically, and fifth set we all know everything can happen, but yeah, it was tough. I was in a tough spot in the fourth and also in the fifth at some point. I didn’t have energy, really. I was very, very flat, you know, the whole body.

“I don’t remember last time I felt this weak, but yeah, look, it is what it is. I tried to stay there with all I had today, and this was the maximum I had. Of course, a pity because I was playing really well the first couple of sets, and also the third set was playing really well. Yeah, that’s the sport.”

Asked whether his energy dropped because he was feeling unwell, Sinner replied: “Tough to say. I think, in general, many things come together. There’s not only one. I played a lot. Didn’t have a lot of time to recover. I came here first match really good, really solid, but you know, when you come back in the day after, you still don’t have a lot of time, even though I finished late, but not crazy late.

“Yeah, I felt this morning I didn’t sleep very well. This morning when I woke up, I was struggling a bit, but you know, this can happen. Usually in Grand Slams you have a couple of days where you don’t feel perfect. This was today. Yeah, this happens.”

This wasn’t the first time Sinner struggled on a hot day, though he said Thursday’s match was nothing like his previous issues. “I think Shanghai was very tough. Humidity very high. Australia was very, very warm, I do remember. It’s different when you play on hard court, because the heat comes also underneath,” he said.

“Here, I mean, it was warm, but it was okay. It was not like I was dying because of the heat. I think today was completely different scenario, but again, this can happen. It’s tough to accept, of course, because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered, but yeah, now I have a lot of time to recover.”

Sinner had not signed up to any grass-court events before Wimbledon. And despite his early exit in Paris, he’s still not planning to play until The Championships get underway on June 29. Last year’s Wimbledon champion stated: “I won’t play any tournament on grass before, most likely. Now I need really some time off, recover completely, also mentally, and then be ready to go again for Wimby.”

The No. 1 seed played a lot of tennis coming into Roland Garros. Since the beginning of March, he won all five Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome. Sinner completed a clean sweep of the three clay-court Masters 1000 tournaments, and completed the ‘Golden Masters’ – winning all nine Masters 1000 titles – in Rome just nine days before his opening match at the French Open.

But Sinner didn’t say he had any regrets over his scheduling decisions. “I always try to look the positive side. If you watch the whole clay swing, very well. Played really, really, really good, winning three tournaments in a row on clay. Coming here, you know, also how I was playing tennis, I felt very well. You know, hitting the ball in a good way, moving well, and today was just not meant to be,” he explained.

“I think many things together caused this problem today, but again, it can happen. I just need my time now to process what went wrong here and positive also that we can put in good practice weeks before Wimby. Also, because after Wimby, we have important tournaments coming up, which you know, Montreal and Cincinnati and US Open. There are still plenty to play this year.

“You don’t know. I mean, if I don’t play Madrid or if I don’t play Rome, maybe I come here and I still have a day like this where you feel sick. So, you know, looking back it’s always very tough. Look, I won three tournaments on clay. Incredible results. Amazing streak I’ve had. Of course, as I said, in the beginning of the year, this is my main goal here.

“A very early exit it was not what I was looking for, but you also don’t know if things would have changed if I would maybe skip Madrid and play only Rome or maybe skipping Rome and come here. You never know, yeah.”

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