Agitated Novak Djokovic wins in action-packed night; Jannik Sinner wilts in the extreme heat but still lives to fight another day after defeating Eliot Spizzirri

“Clearly, [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner are two of the best players in the world. They’re playing at a different level than the rest of us right now. “But when you get on the field and the ball gets rolling, you always have a chance, especially here on this field.”

The 24-time grand slam champion was in the process of a set and double breakaway, continuing his strong start to this year’s event, while van de Zandschulp took a medical timeout to receive treatment for a right shoulder issue.

The Dutchman took a break immediately after resuming and played his best tennis from there; including winning two set points off Djokovic’s serve in the 12th game of the third set; He failed to convert either before losing the tiebreak and the contest.

In one of them, Djokovic launched his second serve at 193 km/h and completed the point with a hyper-aggressive play with a big forehand deep down the court.

“I have to say it was pretty good treatment; it gave him a lot of firepower,” he said of Van de Zandschulp.

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“From then on he was serving extremely well. He struggled with his arm at the beginning of the second period and I could see his kilometers per hour dropping a little bit… but then things changed and I must say I got a little too relaxed and struggled to finish the second set.

“From then on it was anyone’s game, so I’m happy to get through it in straight sets.”

Djokovic also expressed his disappointment that head referee John Blom was not strong enough late in the second set, warning the crowd about shouting during points.

When Blom explained that he had “politely” asked the fans not to distract the players, Djokovic walked up to him and said: “You can’t be polite after two and a half hours. You have to have an attitude.” The crowd immediately and loudly booed Djokovic.

The negative reaction did not seem to bother Djokovic, who animatedly contorted his body and imitated blasting a ball heading outwards later in the same game.

But in his on-field interview, he appeared to admit he lost control of his emotions after Jim Courier asked him what advice he would give to a much younger version of himself.

Djokovic’s answer? “Calm down, you asshole.”

He continued: “It’s true. I experience stress very often on the field… I would say patience is a big thing. When we are young, no matter what area of ​​life we ​​are engaged in, I think today we want everything here and now.”
-Marc McGowan

Extreme heat, extreme luck: The sinner fades but lives to fight another day

Suffering from what looked like a full-body cramp, Jannik Sinner had suffered a break in the third set against a little-known American and faced a stunning exit at the Australian Open; until the tournament’s extreme heat rules came to his rescue.

While 10-time champion and No. 4 seed Djokovic was allocated a cooler night session at Rod Laver Arena for his third-round match, World No. 2 Sinner, scheduled for the hottest part of the day, had drawn Eliot Spizzirri in what appeared to be a regulation contest for the defending champion Italian.

But 12 months after Sinner collapsed on the field against Holger Rune in last year’s fourth round, he struggled once again in sweltering conditions with temperatures soaring into the 30s. He dropped the opening set against the world No. 85 due to cramps that were slowly but surely taking a greater toll on the entire body.

Sinner recovered enough to make a great escape, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 after heat rules changed the course of the match.

The two-time defending Australian Open champion admitted he had to be mindful of his physical preparation to deal with the intense heat, admitting he was “lucky” in the circumstances.

Sinner said on the field: “I struggled a little physically today, we saw that. I was lucky with the heat rule.”

“They closed the roof. I took my time and felt better as time went by.

“I was feeling a little cramped all over… this is an area I need to improve on. I tried to stay as calm as possible but at the end of the day, tennis is a very mental game.”

Later, in the post-match media conference, Sinner was further pressed about his “chances” after dodging a bullet against Rune last year, struggling shivering and shivering in the heat in harrowing scenes, even though the temperature was noticeably lower.

“I try to stay calm, even in a moment like this,” Sinner said about Saturday’s events. “If he keeps playing the way he did, maybe I was falling a little bit, maybe my tournament was over today. I don’t know.”

His lower-ranked rival was more generous.

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“I don’t know if it’s him [Sinner] That’s how I was saved,” said Spizzirri.

“I smiled a little bit when the heat rule came into play because it was funny timing when I went up 3-1, but also, you know, the game at 2-1 in the third set was when the heat came, I think it was 5.0. [on the tournament’s heat stress scale]This means the heat rule is in effect.

“It was funny how it happened when I was breaking and he was wobbling.

“But at the same time, those are the rules of the game and you have to live with it.”

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Regardless, as Sinner “rocked” his team knew the danger of the moment. Australian coach Darren Cahill, taking advantage of the closeness of the on-field coaching pods, said: “You just need to get through the third set mate, don’t worry even if you get around.”

With Sinner further cramping after a 20-point rally in a match where the Italian lost serve and trailed 1-3, head referee Fergus Murphy announced that he was implementing the final phase of the tournament’s heat policy: suspending play on the outside courts and closing the roof of the stadium courts.

The timing couldn’t have been better for Sinner and worse for Spizzirri.

In TV commentary, Australian great Todd Woodbridge said Sinner could “thank its lucky stars”.

Woodbridge on Nine, the owner of this imprint, said, “Who knows what would have happened if the game in the third set had continued for 10-15 more minutes.”

“He can thank his lucky stars that the temperature continued to rise and he took the opportunity to get off the field and get some treatment to combat those cramps, get that fluid and pickle juice.”

But then Sinner wasn’t so desperate for answers to questions about conditioning.

“You know, sometimes… I feel like there’s no real explanation,” he said. “Sometimes, for example tonight, I couldn’t sleep as I wanted.

“The quality of sleep wasn’t great. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. As I recovered each day, I tried to be in the best shape possible when everything was going in the right direction.”

“I know my body a little better now and I hope it will fade away gradually, which was the case with the rules today.”

Sinner confirmed he was unable to receive off-field treatment during the break, which lasted approximately 15 minutes with the roof closed. Instead, he took a few minutes to lie down.

“I was alone, there was no treatment,” he said. “Then you can’t get treatment. That’s why I was stretching.

“I lay down for five minutes and [was] I’m trying to relax the muscles. And it really worked… I tried to lower the body temperature a little more, that’s it; “Time was passing very, very quickly.”
-Scott Spits