{"id":105764,"date":"2026-05-28T09:53:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=105764"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:55:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:55:28","slug":"jannik-sinner-french-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/05\/28\/jannik-sinner-french-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Jannik Sinner Collapses Physically in Stunning French Open Second-Round Upset"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of the biggest upsets in recent tennis history, World No.1 Jannik Sinner<\/a> has been eliminated from the French Open in the second round by Juan Manuel Cerundolo, with severe cramping playing a decisive role in the match.<\/p>\n

The Italian, who at one stage was just a game away from winning in straight sets, completely broke down physically as the Paris heat took its toll. What looked like a routine win quickly turned into a dramatic collapse, producing one of the most shocking tennis results of the decade.<\/p>\n

Strong Start Before the Collapse<\/h3>\n

It initially looked like business as usual for Sinner. He started the match with his trademark suffocating baseline intensity, taking the first set 6\u20133 with control and authority. His level only rose in the second set. He broke Cerundolo twice and surged to a two-set lead in just over an hour, fully in command despite the extreme conditions in Paris.<\/p>\n

Sinner carried that momentum into the third set, racing to a 4\u20130 lead and standing just games away from closing out the match. However, disaster struck as he began to cramp while leading 5\u20131 and serving for the match. What initially looked manageable quickly escalated. His movement became restricted, and Cerundolo capitalized, reeling off a remarkable run of 15 consecutive points to shift the momentum entirely.<\/p>\n

Sinner took a medical timeout at a critical stage, as concerns over cramping and dehydration grew. While medical treatment was administered off court, his condition did not improve immediately upon return. He was broken again almost instantly and went on to lose six consecutive games, surrendering the third set and allowing Cerundolo back into the match.<\/p>\n

Physical Struggles Lead to a Historical Upset<\/h3>\n

After another off-court break before the fourth set, Sinner showed slight improvement in movement, though he was still clearly hampered physically. He created early opportunities, earning multiple break points in the third game, but Cerundolo saved them under pressure. However, Sinner\u2019s inconsistency on serve proved costly, and he was broken soon after.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

From there, Cerundolo gained full control, breaking again to take a double-break lead and eventually forcing a fifth set. The fifth set began in the worst possible fashion for Sinner, as he was immediately broken again while still struggling physically. Despite a brief effort to recover, he could not regain full movement or serving rhythm.<\/p>\n

Cerundolo maintained control and closed out the match, sealing the biggest win of his career and sending the World No.1 out of the tournament in the second round, his earliest exit in a major since the same event in 2023.<\/p>\n

Aftermath and Tournament Implications<\/h3>\n

While this marks a career-defining victory for Cerundolo, most of the attention will fall on Sinner\u2019s physical breakdown and missed opportunity, especially given his strong form coming into Paris<\/a>. Sinner had arrived at Roland Garros after winning five consecutive Masters titles but has now fallen short in his last three attempts to add another Slam to his resume.<\/p>\n

With both Carlos Alcaraz already out of the tournament<\/a> and Sinner eliminated, the draw has completely opened up. Players like Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic<\/a> now look well-positioned to mount serious title runs.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In one of the biggest upsets in recent tennis history, World No.1 Jannik Sinner has been eliminated from the French Open in the second round by Juan Manuel Cerundolo, with severe cramping playing a decisive role in the match. The Italian, who at one stage was just a game away from winning in straight sets, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5608,"featured_media":84734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2,5,9],"tags":[43702,5862,13326],"class_list":["post-105764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-featured","category-french-open","category-news","tag-2026-french-open","tag-jannik-sinner","tag-juan-manuel-cerundolo"],"modified_by":"Zain Mustafa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105764"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105772,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105764\/revisions\/105772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}