A huge upset has rocked Roland Garros: Jannik Sinner has been eliminated by the Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerúndolo, World No. 54 (brother of Francisco Cerúndolo) in second round of the Grand Slam, ending a huge winning streak and frustrating his hopes of completing the career Grand Slam this year. The World No. 1 won the first two sets, and was only one game away for a victory in second round, but then he suffered a medical problem, and after a time out, lost the third set and the following two sets.
The match took a turn nobody expected: from 6-3, 6-2, 5-1, to Cerúndolo winning 18 of the following 20 games, ending 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6.
When he was still above in the third set, but had lost the last three games (5-4, 0/40), Sinner asked for a medical timeout off-court due to dehydration, playing at the peak hours of the heat wave, but not everyone saw it that way: for some, Sinner was suffering cramps, and he should not have been allowed to stop the match as he did.
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Jim Courier, pundit on TNT Sports, said it was unfair for Cerúndolo, "We love the top players, they drive the sport, but you have to apply the rules fairly, the rules are being bent for the top players. This is absolute baloney".
When Sinner was out, tennis fans complained on social media that Sinner was being treated favourably, some even bringing back his soft sanction on the clostebol case last year as an argument that the tournaments are tailor-made for the top players to win every time. Nevertheless, the medical timeout was not enough and Sinner never recovered physically, although he still managed to finish the match. "He deserved to win this match, and then I don't know what happened. But I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers", said Cerúndolo.