Jannik Sinner wilts in the extreme heat but still lives to fight another day after defeating Eliot Spizzirri

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.

“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.

Loading

“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.”

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.”

Loading

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.”