Jannik Sinner in ‘heat cheat’ storm at the French Open: World No 1 is knocked out – after being accused of using dishonest tactics to escape from Paris 32C heatwave

No matter how Jannik Sinner tried to spin it, the heat eventually caught up with him. No matter how bad he felt when he woke up, no matter how tired his body had been from the non-stop tournament winnings of the last few weeks, or how many ‘bubble’ trips to the strangely air-conditioned locker rooms had been allowed by the stewards, his most troublesome opponent had taken him down once again.

The Italian started feeling dizzy in the third round when he was four points clear of the standings and said he felt the energy drain from his body. I got cramps again. He felt like he was going to vomit. He tried to vomit but couldn’t.

Allowed to leave the court – we’ll get to that too – he returned, winning just two more matches and losing the final three sets to world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

‘I woke up this morning, I wasn’t feeling very well,’ he said. ‘I kind of hit a wall,’ Sinner said. ‘This is it. It wasn’t like I was going to die from the heat. I think it’s okay to play, it wasn’t a weather issue, it was just me today. ‘I couldn’t find any energy.’

But no, the problem wasn’t the heat. It certainly wasn’t the heat for the man sitting in his chair at Court Philippe-Chatrier with an ice pack around his neck and a hand fan blowing on his face.

“If we were trying to get away from the sun, we would have asked Suzanne Lenglen about the night game or the first game,” Sinner’s trainer Darren Cahill insisted.

At one point, the Italian football player had to use a fan and cold towels to protect himself from the heat.

Sinner told the physiotherapist that he felt dizzy and ‘I feel like I’m going to throw up.’

Put it this way, leading 6-3, 6-2, 5-1, you sense that had Sinner not been playing in the midst of an unprecedented Paris heat wave and instead batted down to 20 degrees instead of 32, a man who arrived at Roland Garros with 30 straight wins and five straight tournament victories might have been over the line.

Instead, he hit a wall in the third round after losing 15 consecutive points, falling 40-0 behind at 5-4 on serve.

Like Daily Mail Sports What we discussed yesterday is that when things get heated, the Sinner often melts down. He did not win a Grand Slam match for four hours. He stayed here for 3 hours and 36 minutes. At the Australian Open in January, she was rescued by the heat rule, which suspended play after trailing 3-1 in the third set and had the time she needed to cool down and regain control.

It looked like the sinner would have the same chance once again. Sinner held his cramping leg, but instead of starting service time, referee Aurelie Tourte ran down from her chair and checked on Sinner, who complained of dehydration, and was then allowed to leave the field to the air-conditioned locker room to be evaluated by medical staff.

While off the field, Tourte informed Cerundolo that Sinner’s blood pressure was being taken.

Many players have struggled to cope with soaring temperatures in Paris this week

Argentinian rival Juan Manuel Cerundolo celebrates after being eliminated by world No. 1

‘This is unfair for Cerundolo,’ four-time Grand Slam champion Jim Courier said on Tennis Channel. ‘This is not an injury. He needs to be punished for this. He’s clearly cramping.

‘The rules are being relaxed for the best players. You can’t tell me you have to take him off the field to see what his vital signs are like. ‘This is absolute nonsense.’

Players are not allowed to leave the field due to cramp. If Tourte had started the countdown clock and Sinner had not served on time, he would have been given a time violation.

That’s what happened to Czech star 26th seed Jakub Mensik on Wednesday night. He suffered cramps so severe during an epic final-set tiebreak that he collapsed for more than five minutes after hitting the winning shot and had to be helped into a wheelchair. That didn’t stop the officials from slapping him with two time violations that cost him serve twice during the tiebreak.

All players enforce the rules. They all say they’ve fine-tuned their thighs, when in fact they only have a little cramping, but it’s the top players who consistently miss more.

Speaking to TNT Sport’s Roland Garros coverage, Tim Henman told TNT Sport’s Roland Garros coverage: ‘If you’re being assessed for an injury that requires some privacy, if you’ve got a groin strain, you’ve got to take your clothes off, then of course you’ll be off the court, but in this scenario, when he’s assessed himself, I’d consider spending 10 minutes in an air-conditioned room.’ ‘Hmm, doesn’t look quite right.’

Sinner left the court again for a ‘jersey change’ just three games after losing the third set. A little more time under the air conditioner. It was within the rules, but it still didn’t make a difference. He finally took the fourth set, not even trying to score a point or serve with gusto, but trying to save some energy for the decider. This didn’t work either. He lost the last two sets to one.

The path is now clear for Novak Djokovic to move towards his 25th Grand Slam title. This will be the first Slam without Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz in the final since the 2023 US Open. Djokovic won this one too.

Sinner’s escape in Melbourne was the second Australian Open in a row where conditions nearly knocked him out. He was nearly exhausted against Casper Ruud but took advantage of an 11-minute off-court medical timeout to go on to win the tournament. He retired from the Shanghai Masters last year due to severe cramps due to extreme heat and humidity. He faltered against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals in Rome a few weeks ago, but he pulled through and won that tournament too.

Stating that he will now take a break until Wimbledon, Sinner said, “I think today is a completely different scenario.” In a way, he was right. No matter how hard they tried to bend the rules, they didn’t come to his rescue this time.