Last year, Jannik Sinner suffered one of the most devastating losses imaginable when he allowed Carlos Alcaraz to wriggle from his grasp when three championship points down in their memorable French Open final. A year on, the world No 1 returned to Court Philippe-Chatrier and experienced an even more staggering collapse. From 6-3, 6-2, 5-1, the chances of Sinner’s opponent, the world No 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo, reaching the third round and ending the top seed’s dominant 30-match winning streak were unthinkable.
Sinner, though, was dealing with a ticking time bomb. The 24-year-old had been scheduled to play the day’s opening match, with a noon start time. That raised an eyebrow to begin with, as it represented the first time a men’s singles match had been scheduled first on the French Open’s biggest court in three years. Given the unprecedented May heatwave, the rationale was clear: Sinner wanted to get his match over and done with as soon as possible, and avoid the worst of the sweltering mid-afternoon conditions.
