Jannik Sinner saved from roof: "I was lucky"
Big scare for Jannik Sinner in the third round of the Australian Open against Eliot Spizzirri. In fact, the world number two suffered cramps, which started in his calf and went up to his arms and hands, early in the third set. Then the closing of the roof due to the extreme heat –heat index climbed to 4.9 – helped the Azure who returned to the locker room to recover. When the match resumed, Sinner won four games in a row to win the third set, which proved decisive for the match.
The South Tyrolean champion, who overcame the American in four sets (4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4) after three hours and three quarters of play, spoke this way in the on-court interview at the end of the match: “He really played a great match, he showed that he can have a great season. I struggled physically, I started with cramps in my leg and they spread to my arms. It’s sports, I have to improve here too. I am pushing myself in the right direction, tennis is a mental sport and I am here to beat myself at every point”.
“I did not play my best, but I gave the best I had. I was lucky with the roof closing, as time went on I felt better. In tournaments like this you always find difficult matches. I am happy, we will need the right mentality in the next matches. Now I have to recover” concluded the second seed on the scoreboard who in the round of 16 will face Luciano Darderi, who overcame Karen Khachanov in four sets (7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4) in the third round, in an all-Italian derby.
In Melbourne, Sinner goes in the hunt for a third consecutive Australian Open. A trio that has succeeded, in the tournament’s history, only to three tennis players: Jack Crawford (from 1931 to 1933), Roy Emerson (winner for five editions in a row, from 1963 to 1967) and Novak Djokovic. The Serbian made it a hat trick twice in Melbourne: from 2011 to 2013 and from 2019 to 2021.
By winning the tournament, the world number two would also avert the possibility of Carlos Alcaraz completing the Grand Slam. In fact, the world number one has never won the Australian Open, having never made it beyond the quarterfinals of the Australian major.
