Jannik Sinner’s quest for a first French Open title and his career took a turn for the worse when he suffered physical problems in his second-round match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo and lost 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday.
Sinner won the opening two sets with ease and went 5-1 in the third set before dropping three games and seeking medical treatment off the court, but lost two straight sets before going to the decider.
Sinner was on a 30-match winning streak going into February and was likely to win the only major title missing in his tennis career – especially with two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz sidelined with a right hand injury.
In the previous match, Sinner’s 10th seed Flavio Cobolli defeated China’s Wu Yibing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round for the second consecutive year.
With Wu eliminated, the only Chinese player left in the singles draw is women’s world No. 148 Wang Xiyu, who will face Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva, winner of runner-up Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, in the third round on Wednesday.
On the women’s side, former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka made an impressive comeback at Roland Garros, but was made to work hard to avoid the exit door in a 7-6, 6-4 win over Croatian Donna Vekic in the second round.
