Jannik Sinner Collapses in Paris Heat as French Open Dream Ends in Shocking Upset

Jannik Sinner, the overwhelming favorite to win the French Open, crashed out in the second round on Thursday after apparently struggling with dizziness and heat exhaustion. The top-ranked Italian lost to 56th-ranked Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina: 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1.

Sinner led by two sets and was up 5-1 in the third. He was serving for the match a second time at 5-4, 0-40 when he bent over and walked to his chair. He asked for assistance and left the court. His entire light blue outfit was soaked through with sweat. When he returned, minerals had been added to his drink. But he could not recover. He lost the set 7-5, then dropped the next two sets in rapid succession.

"I didn't feel very well on court," Sinner said afterward. "I struggled, starting to feel very dizzy, very low on energy." He said he already felt unwell when he woke up on Thursday morning.

The temperature at the start of the match was 29 degrees Celsius and rose to 32 degrees. Sinner refused to blame the weather. "It was warm but not crazy warm," he said. "I feel like it was quite OK to play. Really it was nothing against the heat, nothing against the weather. It was just me today, but it happens."

Still, the signs of physical distress were unmistakable. Sinner bent over on the clay multiple times, barely running for shots as the match wore on. He resorted to drop shots and serve-and-volley tactics to shorten points. On changeovers, he used a hand-held fan and placed bags of ice around his neck.

Sinner had been on a 30-match winning streak stretching back to February. He had won five straight Masters titles and had hardly dropped a set. With two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz out due to an injured wrist, Sinner was widely expected to complete a career Grand Slam by taking the only big title missing in his collection. Instead, he will leave Paris before the first week is over.

This is not the first time Sinner has struggled in hot conditions. He admitted he was lucky at the Australian Open in January against Eliot Spizzirri when the roof was closed and the third-round match swung his way. He also had to retire from a match in Shanghai in October that was contested amid extreme heat. On the same court at Roland Garros last year, Sinner wasted three match points against Alcaraz and lost an epic final.

Cerundolo did not celebrate much after the victory. He gave a small wave to the crowd. "It's tough for him," Cerundolo said. "I couldn't win more than three games by set. So I think I was a little bit lucky. He was deserving to win in this match. But then I don't know what happened. I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers."

For Sinner, the immediate concern is not the rankings or the Grand Slam count. It is figuring out why his body shut down in conditions that most of his competitors handled. He has a history of wilting in the heat. At 24, with the weight of being world No. 1 and the favorite at every tournament, that is not a weakness he can afford to carry into another summer.