MELBOURNE, Australia
Defending champion Jannik Sinner was cramping and down a break in the third set—on the brink of a stunning Australian Open exit—when a reprieve arrived in the form of extreme heat rules.
Limping and stretching to relieve muscle cramps, Sinner had just lost his serve to 85th-ranked American Eliot Spizzirri when play was suspended and the roof closed on Rod Laver Arena.
The Italian returned transformed, winning five of the next six games to seize the set.
A subsequent 10-minute cooling break further steadied him, and Sinner rallied for a gritty 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory that propelled him into the fourth round. “I struggled physically today,” Sinner admitted. “I got lucky with the heat rule.”
The match underscored the brutal conditions players faced, with the stadium’s shifting environment—from intense sunlight to controlled indoor climate—mirroring Sinner’s own dramatic turnaround from near-defeat to resilient triumph.
By James Kisoo
