Top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was eliminated from the French Open Thursday after visibly struggling with the sweltering heat in his match against Argentine opponent Juan Manuel Cerundolo. And Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka beat local Elsa Jacquemot after a first-set scare, moving into the third round.
Jannik Sinner's bid for a maiden French Open title and career Grand Slam were cut short Thursday as he struggled with the heat in his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and fell to a 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 defeat.
Sinner won the opening two sets with ease and was up 5-1 in the third set before dropping three games and asking for medical treatment off the court, only to lose two straight sets before going down in the decider.
Sinner was on a 30-match winning streak stretching back to February and the odds were overwhelming he'd complete a career Grand Slam by winning the only big title missing in his tennis career – especially with two-time reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz out due to an injured right wrist.
The temperature at the start of the match was 29 degrees C, and was forecast to rise to 33 C.
Sinner bent over on the clay court in apparent exhaustion multiple times and was hardly even running for shots as the match wore on, resorting to drop shots and serve-and-volley tactics to try and shorten the points.
He attempted to cool himself with a hand-held fan on changeovers and put bags of ice around his neck.
Sinner also struggled in the heat at the Australian Open against Eliot Spizzirri in January. The roof was closed and the third-round match swung his way.
Sabalenka came out on top
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame a first-set scare to beat France's Elsa Jacquemot 7-5 6-2 and move into the French Open third round.
The Belarusian, last year's losing finalist, was made to work hard for about an hour, with the local hero delighting home fans with several spectacular winners.
A four-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka is still looking to land her first French Open title.
The world number one earned an early break with a powerful forehand to go 3-1 up but Jacquemot broke straight back.
Sabalenka had set point at 5-4 on Jacquemot's serve but the French player, who had the crowd on their feet at times, managed to match Sabalenka's power with superb precision and level.
The top seed kept her composure and won the first set on her third set point, and she never looked back.
She grabbed a break at the start of the second set and raced to a 3-0 lead, giving Jacquemot, who was quickly running out of steam, no chance of a comeback.
Success from Kouamé and Parry
Moïse Kouamé, invited by the organizers to play his first Grand Slam tournament, showed great solidity and maturity to win in the first match in five sets of his short career (6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6). After an epic fight of almost five hours against Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo on the court Suzanne Lenglen, the 17-year-old Frenchman was able to find the resources to win the super tie-break while he was leading 5-3 in the fifth set.
French player Diane Parry won in just over 1 hour and 30 minutes against American Ann Li (seed No. 30) with a score of 6-3 6-4. She will meet another American in the next round: Amanda Anisimova, the world's number 6.
Three French players eliminated
Hugo Gaston, winner of Gaël Monfils' first round for his last Roland-Garros, lost to Francisco Cerundolo 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
The other two Frenchmen engaged did little better at the end of the day: Arthur Rinderknech, the best ranked Frenchman of the tournament (25th), could not do anything against the former Italian top 10 Matteo Berrettini (105th), who beat him 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
After a 4h34 fight in five sets, in a fiery atmosphere on the N.7 court, Luca Van Assche, 100th in the world, ended up bowing to American Brandon Nakashima (35th), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AFP and AP)
