Jannik Sinner is sick, Cerundolo makes it 2-2
Dramatic second round for Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros.
After dominating the first two sets, the Azure player experienced discomfort due to the great heat and lost the next two partials against Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who tied the match at 2-2 (6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6). Now the world number one, who practically played the last two partials from a standstill, will try everything in the fifth and decisive set.
Jannik Sinner started his second match at Roland Garros with authority, winning the first set against Francisco Cerundolo thanks to the 6-3 result obtained in 35 minutes. The Azure immediately imposed pace and aggressiveness, finding a break early on and controlling the partial thanks to solidity on serve and depth of strokes. Cerundolo tried to stay in the slipstream, but suffered from the continuity and variations of the world number one.
In the second set the Argentine started well but Sinner responded immediately restoring the balance before placing the decisive break in the third game with aggressive responses and passes of great quality. Despite some difficulties on the serves, the Italian always managed the key moments with lucidity, even finding a second break that effectively closed the partial. Cerundolo had one last gasp in the final, but Sinner maintained control until the final 6-2.
The unbelievable happened in the third set: the Azzurro led comfortably up to a 5-1 lead, posting two breaks in the third and eighth game, but suddenly collapsed physically, perhaps due to the great heat. The San Candido champion began to feel the heat wave in Paris (perceived temperature 36 degrees), and he resoundingly lost the next three games. On 5-4 for him, 0-40 for Cerundolo, he called for the physiotherapist’s intervention: “I don’t feel well, I feel that I need to vomit.”
The South Tyrolean continued to touch his thigh and then walked off the court in search of refreshment. After a few minutes he returned and resumed the match but there was no way: he suffered the 5-5 break by the Argentine, who then also won the 11th and 12th games winning the partial set. Sinner at the end of the set immediately went to the toilet break to try to regain his energy.
Sinner started the fourth set very unloaded, trying to shorten the exchanges and playing often stationary, bending on his knees between points. Despite a decidedly weaker serve he managed to keep his serve after five consecutive games lost. In the next two games in response, however, he wasted six break points as Cerundolo managed to steal his serve and then closed on 6-1. It goes to the fifth set.
