Jannik Sinner makes ‘got lucky’ confession after surviving major Australian Open heat scare

Ewan West 24 Jan 2026 9:02 AM

Jannik Sinner reacts at the Australian Open

Jannik Sinner celebrates his win

Jannik Sinner admitted he “got lucky” after the Australian Open heat rule helped him survive a major scare in his third round match with Eliot Spizzirri.

The world No 2 battled to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory against world No 85 Spizzirri after three hours and 42 minutes having suffered with full body cramps in the brutal Melbourne heat on Rod Laver Arena.

Temperatures soared as high as 38 degrees Celsius, and Sinner‘s bid for a third successive Australian Open title looked in real danger in the third set as he was struggling to move due to cramping.

After Sinner was broken to fall 1-3 behind in the third set, play was stopped for 10 minutes and the Rod Laver Arena roof was closed.

This was due to the Australian Open’s extreme heat policy, which dictates that play is suspended if the tournament’s Heat Stress Scale — which measures playing conditions from 1 to 5 — reaches 5.

Following the pause, Sinner broke the 24-year-old American immediately and fought hard to win the set. The Italian then came back from a 1-3 deficit again in the fourth set.

Following the match, Sinner was open about his physical struggles and said the heat rule had worked in his favour.

“I struggled physically a bit today,” said Sinner.

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“I got lucky with the heat rule and the roof closing. I took my time and as the time passed I felt better and better.

“I’m very happy about this performance. Looking back at every big tournament there were some tough matches. Hopefully this can give me some positives for the next round.”

The four-time Grand Slam winner revealed the nature of his cramping.

“I started with the leg, then it got into the arm. I was cramping a bit all over,” Sinner explained.

“This is the sport, I know this is an area where I need to improve. Tennis is a very mental game, I just tried to stay as calm as possible. I’m here to fight.”

On what he did during the break in the third set, Sinner said: “I was alone. There was no treatment, you cannot have treatment in that time.

“I was stretching, I laid down for five minutes and tried to loosen up the muscles, and it worked really well. I tried to get the body temperature down. The time passed quite fast, but it did help for sure.”

Sinner will face world No 25 and fellow Italian Luciano Darderi in the fourth round.