Jannik Sinner took a long break after the shock withdrawal from the French Open: Nobody is a robot

“No one is a robot. No one is built to never fail,” said world number one Jannik Sinner after his shock exit from the French Open on Thursday (May 28). Playing against world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundola, who had never beaten a top 10 player before in his career, Sinner lost 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-1-1-6 hours into the match.

On Thursday, Sinner struggled physically in the Paris heat, which played a major role in his defeat in the second round. Sinner’s straight-sets streak was halted while leading 5-1 in the third set and seemingly inches away from closing out the match. The Italian complained of dizziness and asked the referee for a medical time-out.

I HAD NO ENERGY: SINFUL

When he returned to the court, Sinner looked like a shadow of himself and struggled with movement for the rest of the match. The world number one first lost the third set 5-7 before collapsing physically in the final two sets, which she lost 1-6, 1-6.

When asked what happened during the match, Sinner admitted that he simply had no energy left. However, the Italian insisted that the conditions themselves were not extreme enough to be entirely blamed for his defeat.

“Even though I played great tennis, I really didn’t find any energy today. It was a tough spot. But again, this is sports. It was warm, but not crazy hot. I feel like it was pretty cool to play. It wasn’t anything against the heat. Nothing against the weather. Just me today. But it happens,” Sinner said at the post-match press conference.

“No one is a robot. No one is built to never fail. Today it went that way. I just didn’t see a way out today, which I don’t normally do,” he added.

The Italian also revealed that he plans to take a short break from tennis ahead of next month’s Wimbledon Championships. Sinner added that he was unlikely to play any grass-court tournaments in preparation for next season’s Grand Slam.

“Now I have a lot of time to recover. I most likely won’t play any grass tournaments before. Now I really need some time to fully recover, mentally as well, and then I’m ready to go to Wimbledon again,” concluded Sinner.

Meanwhile, Juan Manuel Cerundolo scored the biggest win of his career when he knocked out the world number one in Paris. The southpaw remained composed, although Sinner briefly raised his level in the closing stages of the bout and eventually completed a stunning comeback victory.

Cerundolo will next face Spain’s Martin Landaluc on Saturday, May 30 in the third round of the French Open.

– The end

Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

28 May 2026 23:05 IST