Sinner cites fatigue after Paris loss, eyes rest before Wimbledon

Jannik Sinner said his lack of energy in a stunning French Open loss on Thursday was down to a combination of factors including a long claycourt ‌swing, during which he played and won three successive events to arrive as the ​favourite in Paris.

Sinner, who was targeting a maiden French Open title and ‌career Grand Slam in the ‌absence of his injured rival Carlos Alcaraz, was hampered by illness for a 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 second-round defeat by Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

After titles in Monte Carlo, Madrid and ‌Rome, and a comfortable victory in his Paris opener, Sinner fell flat on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“In general, many things came together... I played a lot and I didn’t have a lot of time to recover,” Sinner said in a packed press conference room.

“I came here, first match, really good, really solid... even though I finished late, but not crazy late.

“This morning I didn’t sleep well. When I woke up, I was ​struggling a bit, but this can happen. Usually in Grand Slams you ‌have a couple of days where you don’t feel perfect. “That was today.”

While heat and humidity have often tripped up Sinner during big events, the world number one, who hails from northern Italy’s South Tyrol, said he was at ease in Paris despite the mercury going past 30 degrees Celsius.

“Shanghai (in October) was very tough. The humidity was high,” Sinner said about his ​retirement in ‌the Chinese city.

“Australia was very warm (this year), I remember. It’s different when you ‌play on hardcourts, because the heat also comes from underneath,” Sinner explained.

“Here, it was warm, but it was okay. It wasn’t like I was dying because of the heat. Today, it ‌was a completely ‌different scenario, but this can happen.

“It’s tough to accept, of course, because of the position I’ve been in and ‌everything considered, but now I have a lot of time to recover.”

Sinner said he would consider skipping grasscourt tune-up tournaments before his title defence begins at Wimbledon, where the main draw gets underway on June 29.

“I ​won’t play any tournament on grass before (Wimbledon), most likely,” he added.

“I need really some time off to recover completely, also mentally, and then be ready to go again.”

Earlier, Novak Djokovic extended his latest bid for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title with a four-set victory over Valentin Royer in the French Open second round on Wednesday.

Djokovic had to come from a set down in his opening match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and was pushed hard again by another Frenchman in Royer, before finally sealing a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3 win after three and three-quarter hours on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“I hope I won’t play any more French players for the rest of the tournament,” said the third seed, who has been tied on 24 Grand Slam titles with Margaret Court since winning the 2023 US Open, with a wry smile.

Djokovic, who beat world number one Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open last four earlier this year, cannot meet the red-hot title favourite until the final at Roland Garros.

Djokovic powered through the first two sets, although world number 74 Royer, born just 5km from Roland Garros, showed much more resistance in the third before extending the match in a brilliant tie-break.

The Serb, who twice failed to consolidate breaks of serve in the third set, made no such mistake in the fourth as he belatedly booked his place in the next round on his fifth match point.

Czech Jakub Mensik, the only player other than Djokovic to beat Sinner this year, needed eight match points before eventually downing Mariano Navone 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (13/11).

Rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, seeing off James Duckworth 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-5.

Meanwhile, Australian Open champion Rybakina blew a one-set lead to exit in dramatic fashion, slumping to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10/4) loss to Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.

It is Rybakina’s earliest departure from any tour-level tournament since the 2025 Miami Open and first defeat in the opening two rounds of a major since the 2024 Australian Open.

“I couldn’t find the balance. I couldn’t find the right shot, and it was clearly just too many mistakes,” said the Kazakh world number two.

Starodubtseva will face China’s Wang Xiyu for a place in the last 16.

Agencies