Sinner on Cramping and the Roof Closure that Saved Him: “I Got Lucky”

Last we checked, luck is part of tennis. There’s even a place for it for behemoth forces who have absolutely dominated the hardcourt majors over the last few years, players that have won the Australian Open two years running.

Just ask Jannik Sinner, who caught a break in the third set of his encounter with hard-charging Eliot Spizzirri on Day 7, as the heat stress index hit 5 and play was stopped for the closure of the roof on Rod Laver Arena.

Those are the rules, and they were followed to the letter. Sinner, who was cramping and suffering at the time, was fortunate to have the extra minutes to go off court and cool off. He made the most of that time and came back and won the third set, before another extended break took place between the sets.

The rules put in place to protect the safety of the players also aided in the progression of the No.2 seed and two-time defending champion today. Call it luck. Call it karma. Call it a seventh consecutive Australian Open win.

“It was hot today,” Sinner told reporters. “I started to cramp a little bit in the third set, which then after by time it went slowly away. I know my body slightly better now with a bit of experience also, you know, trying to handle certain situations a bit better.”

“Yeah, got lucky today. At the point when they closed the roof, it takes a little bit time. Tried to loosen up a little bit. It helped. Changed a bit also the way of how to play certain points. That helped me today, for sure.”

Sinner, who has struggled in the heat before, wasn’t exactly sure why his body was letting him down during his four-set win over Spizzirri.

“I feel like sometimes there are no real explanations,” he said. “For example, this night I didn’t slept the way I wanted to. The quality of sleep was not perfect. Maybe it was this; maybe not. Regardless, I try to be in the best possible shape every day. Recovery, everything going in the right direction. It can happen.”

Sinner was relatively calm on court, given the circumstances and his obvious suffering. He credits his knowledge of his body. He’s been there before, and that helped him alleviate some of the stress.

“I know my body a little bit better now,” he said. “I hope that it goes slowly away, which that was the case. Today with the rule helped me. I had also the 10 minutes after the third set. Yeah, so I tried to having a good balance and having a right, you know, way to play against him helped me today, for sure.”

It’s not the first time Sinner has had a close call in Melbourne, or the first time he got a little lucky. Last year during his round of 16 match with Holger Rune he was looking like a ghost and many speculated that he was about to be upset. Then the netpost had an issue in the fourth set, and the players got a 21-minute break. Good for Sinner, bad for Rune.

He won the match, and went on to win his second Australian Open title.

Nevertheless, Sinner says he’s still actively trying to improve his body so that it can better resist breaking down in extreme heat.

“For sure it’s an area where I would love to improve. There is a reason why I go to the gym every day, trying to get better,” he said. “But in the same time, you know, every player has his own small problems. Maybe this is mine. You don’t know. But for sure there is room to improve, which I’m quite sure we will do everything possible to improve in a positive way. Then we see how it goes.”