The World No.1 Jannik Sinner had entered the Roland Garros as a huge favorite, especially in the absence of his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz. In the second round of the French Open against Juan Manuel Cerundolo, he was leading 6-2, 6-2, 5-1 and, not many would have manifested that he would lose from such a commanding position.
Sinner eventually suffered a 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6 loss, which ended his Roland Garros campaign and also his 30-match winning streak. The Italian admitted he struggled and felt dizzy during the game because of the heat. The 24-year-old said he was not feeling 100% when he woke up in the morning.
“I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy,” Sinner said after his career-best 30-match winning streak came to an end in the French capital. “Very low in 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.
“I 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.”
Sinner admitted he doesn’t want to take away the credit from Cerundolo, who was able to hold his nerve and took the game deep.
“I didn’t feel very well on court, but it can happen,” Sinner reflected. “I was in a good spot, also third set. I couldn’t serve it out. Then struggled quite a bit. But also congrats to him. I don’t want to take anything away from him. He played a very solid match, especially also in the end, and that’s the sport.”
The Italian was happy with his performance on the clay court swing, as he had a 18-1 record on the surface.
“I always try to look the positive side,” Sinner said. “If you [look at] the whole clay swing, very [good]. Played really, really, really good, winning three tournaments in a row on clay. Coming here, also how I was playing tennis, I felt very well. Hitting the ball in a good way, moving well, and today was just not meant to be.
“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 the positives also that we can put in good practise weeks before [Wimbledon]. Also, because after Wimbledon, we have important tournaments coming up… Montreal and Cincinnati and US Open. There are still plenty to play this year.”
Sinner will look to be at his best in the grass season.
