Fans Accuse Australian Open of Helping Jannik Sinner in Middle of Possible Upset by Suspending Match Due to Heat Policy: “Absolutely Disgraceful”

Jannik Sinner started cramping in the middle of his Australian Open third-round clash with Eliot Spizzirri. The American ace took the first set off the two-time defending champion.

After Sinner’s win in the second set, Spizzirri broke him to take a 3-1 lead in the third set. Sinner was already cramping due to the soaring heat and started to limp.

After winning the match with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 scoreline, Sinner admitted that he was “lucky” because when he was cramping, the heat rule was put into play. The heat stress index reached 5 exactly when the American broke the World No.2 to take a 3-1 lead. As per the rules, the officials suspended the match as the roof on the Rod Laver Arena was closed.

🤯🇦🇺 SINNER STARTS FULL BODY CRAMPING AND UMPIRE SUSPENDS PLAY TO CLOSE ROOF DUE TO HEAT.

Spizzirri leads 3-1 at 1 set a piece 🍿
pic.twitter.com/F7ypaZkNey

— Mpb (@matchpo1ntbets) January 24, 2026

In less than 10 minutes, the play resumed. But by then, Sinner had already recovered, and upon his comeback in a cooler condition, he was successful in turning around the match to schedule his fourth round match against fellow Italian Luciano Darderi, whom he will be meeting for the first time.

Sinner, who is bidding to become the second man in the Open Era after Novak Djokovic to complete the three-peat at Melbourne Park, dealt with severe cramps against Holger Rune in last year’s Australian Open fourth round. So much so that he took an 11-minute medical timeout.

Even though he has established himself as a formidable force on the men’s tour, he has yet to conquer weakness due to extreme heat. Sinner ended up giving the walkover to Tallon Griekspoor at the Shanghai Masters last year due to the scorching weather.

Fans think the Australian Open deliberately helped Jannik Sinner through the heat rule

The Australian Open drew heavy backlash for suspending the match, as many from the tennis world think Jannik Sinner was saved from elimination due to the heat rule. Some fans on social media are just not ready to accept that Sinner’s cramping and heat rule coming into effect at the exact time is a coincidence, accusing the tournament of deliberately helping Sinner escape defeat.

Check out their reactions here:

ladies and gentleman and fans of the Australian Open you are witnessing some of the most blatant cheating and corruption in the spizzirri sinner match. While EVERY other match plays on in the heat, Sinners match gets stopped for a “extreme heat delay” right when sinner can’t move

— aaron maze (@SportsRRigged) January 24, 2026

Roof was closed just for Sinner, breaking the rules

Commentators explain:

"Once the referee decides that play cannot resume, each player will be given 30 minutes notice prior to the resumption of play. I'm under the impression that this is a substantial break." pic.twitter.com/CLPkMLAzzp

— Corvath Draemir (@Archaicmind3000) January 24, 2026

Scammers – Sinner vs Spizzirri getting a heat rule when you are struggling is wow. pic.twitter.com/c6AZk5nUto

— Richard Bowie (@BowieTennis) January 24, 2026

Jannik Sinner is getting cooked by an unseeded American while cramping in the 100° heat and they close the roof.

Australian Open bailing out the golden boy.

— Brandon Koretz (@BrandonKoretz) January 24, 2026

Man sinner and luck always go hand in hand 🤦🏻‍♂️

— Sam’s Sports Corner (@samsportscorner) January 24, 2026

Yes of course
The heat rule came when he got broken…
If it's his opponent who is struggling!!!?
Would they do the same at the exact same time??

— Ibrahim #24🥇🇷🇸✝️✝️ (@Ibrahim0004445) January 24, 2026

I am a Sinner fan but that is complete bullshit he gets a “heat rule” suspension when he is completely cooked down a break in the 3rd set.

I love Sinner but wow what unique timing

— owen schiff (@OKnowsSports) January 24, 2026

Australian open all of a sudden gets a heat rule when sinner starts cramping and loses a break 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Now sinner will come back out fully energized and win the set.

Match fixing ass tennis lmao 🤣

— BigSafeTD710 (@safetd710) January 24, 2026

Sinner’s fourth-round opponent, Luciano Darderi, knocked out Cristian Garin, Sebastian Baez, and 15th seed Karen Khachanov en route to reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

Jannik Sinner on whether he received treatment during the 10-minute break

At his press conference after his third-round win, Sinner said that to tackle the problems he deals with due to the heat, he goes to Dubai for the pre-season training. Sinner blamed the lack of quality sleep for his performance. A reporter then asked him whether he received any treatment during the break.

Yeah, nothing. I was alone; there was no treatment. You cannot have treatment at that time. So I was stretching, I lay down for five minutes and tried to loosen up the muscles, and it worked really well, trying to get the body temperature a bit more down, and that’s it. You know, there are not many things you can do at that time; time passed quite fast, but it helped me for sure.

Jannik Sinner said

Sinner did not participate in any warm-up tournament before arriving in Melbourne. He instead played an exhibition match against Alcaraz in South Korea. In the previous two seasons’ Australian Open finals, Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Before eliminating Spizzirri, Sinner was handed the walkover by Hugo Gaston in the first round. Then he breezed past James Duckworth in the second round. Sinner booked a spot in the fourth round of the Melbourne Slam for the fifth consecutive time.

Also read: Coco Gauff Lashes Out at the Australian Open Crowd for Being Disrespectful to her American Opponent