Jannik Sinner claims over heat rules disputed by Jamie Murray: ‘I don’t believe it’

Kevin Palmer 26 Jan 2026 11:30 AM

Jannik Sinner and Jamie Murray

Jannik Sinner’s coach has insisted he did not ask to play his fourth round match against fellow Italian Luciano Darderi in an night time slot, despite his serious cramping issues in his previous match.

The defending champion was perilously close to crashing out of the tournament as he suffered full-body cramps amid extreme heat in his match against Eliot Spizzirri on Saturday, with the tournament’s heat rule kicking in just in time to save him from a retirement.

There was an expectation that Sinner and his team would then request an evening match to try and avoid the high temperatures in Melbourne, but his coach Darren Cahill dismissed that claim.

“We did not request a night session,” said Cahill. “We could have been moved to the night session when [Jakub] Mensik pulled out. The night session was offered to Jannik, but we had no problem sticking to the schedule.”

There has been plenty of discussion over the fortune Sinner enjoyed as the heat rule was introduced just in time to save his Australian Open bid and Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray disputed Cahill’s claims that the Italian’s camp did not request a night session match.

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“I don’t believe it,” said Murray on TNT Sports. “There’s no way he went through what he went through in his last match and then they didn’t want him to play as late as possible.

“I don’t believe it personally, but I could be wrong. I’m not saying he’s wrong. He’s absolutely in his rights to ask to play late in the day, but I don’t believe he went through what he went through and did nothing about it.”

Former British No 1 Laura Robson gave her views on the heat rule that saved Sinner, as she suggested he was close to a shock exit.

“There is no way he could have finished this match,” said Robson on TNT Sports.

“He was talking to Darren Cahill and saying I don’t know if I can do this. Darren was saying just walk through the third set and get off the court because they knew there was a very good chance that the heat rule was coming in.

“He certainly got lucky. People will be convinced that there were other factors in play and that the tournament did it on purpose, but genuinely, it was boiling at that point of the day and it was pure kismet that the match stopped when it did.

“We sat off for seven or eight minutes and the ten-minute heat rule that came in at the end of the third [set]. Things just fell his way.”

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Sinner appeared to have some minor cramping issues in his match with Darderi, but he came through with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(2) to extend his unbeaten record against fellow Italian players to an impressive 18-0.

“I feel like there is still room to improve, which is normal, but I am very happy with how have I come back in the new season, because at the end of last season I served really well and now it’s more stable,” said Sinner after the match.

“It’s not only that area where we try to improve, I try to come to the net a bit more and be slightly more unpredictable, which today I felt like worked really well.”

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