Jannik Sinner’s Opponent Suffers Sudden Cramps During Live Interview Before Australian Open Clash

The Australian Open heat policy saved two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner from a possible exit.

Jannik Sinner’s Opponent Suffers Sudden Cramps During Live Interview Before Australian Open Clash

Jannik Sinner will face Luciano Darderi next (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, The First Serve)

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The conditions at the 2026 Australian Open due to the scorching heat are so brutal that in the case of Luciano Darderi, the effect of it didn’t go away even after knocking out his third-round opponent, Karen Khachanov. Darderi is one of the three Italian men booking a berth in the fourth round of the Australian Open, joining Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.

As temperatures soared as high as 38 degrees Celsius, several matches were suspended, including Sinner’s third-round clash with America’s Eliot Spizzirri, who took the first set off the second seed and took a 3-1 lead in the third set after losing the previous one. Spizzirri eventually lost the match in four sets.

The moment Sinner started cramping, the Heat Stress Scale reached 5, and the officials had to suspend the match to close the roof of the Rod Laver Arena. This drew backlash, with a section of the tennis community accusing the Australian Open of giving preferential treatment to the two-time defending champion.

But Musetti also finished his match against Tomas Machac under the closed roof of the John Cain Arena. After knocking out Khachanov, Darderi sat for an interview with Australian Open BlueZone, during which he was hit by sudden cramps.

Here’s the video of the same:

Darderi will be squaring off against the four-time Grand Slam champion for the first time in his career. The 23-year-old will be playing the fourth round of a Major for the first time in his career. Prior to this year, the World No.25 made only one Australian Open main draw appearance (lost in the first round last year).

Tim Henman says Jannik Sinner would have crashed out of the Australian Open without the heat rule

Extreme heat has troubled Jannik Sinner in the past as well. In the fourth round of last year’s Australian Open, when he played against Holger Rune, the former World No.1 took an 11-minute medical timeout. At the Shanghai Masters last year, Sinner handed the walkover to Tallon Griekspoor after suffering severe cramps under the scorching sun.

Jannik Sinner (2)
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

Tim Henman was convinced Sinner would have headed home without the heat policy. On TNT Sports, the former British No.1 compared the heat policy to that of Grigor Dimitrov‘s pectoral muscle injury he suffered during his fourth-round match against the Italian after taking the first two sets off the World No.2 at Wimbledon last year.

At that moment in time, you said his race is run; you thought that he was going to be out of the tournament. And then just as the heat rule came in, they shut the roof. It gave Sinner a break; it gave him the opportunity to get off the court and regroup, and once the roof was shut, the ambient temperature in the arena comes down, his body temperature came down, and he was able to make a recovery.

Tim Henman said

At Wimbledon, after surviving the scare against the Bulgarian, Sinner went on to reach the final and beat Carlos Alcaraz to win his first title at SW19. In Melbourne, Sinner is chasing a three-peat.

He couldn’t have been in more trouble; he was absolutely cooked out there. But he’s got a lifeline. It makes me think back to Dimitrov at Wimbledon. [Sinner was] down two sets to love, and then suddenly, Dimitrov blows out his pec muscles and had to retire. This is on similar lines. He had to earn it by winning the third and fourth, but without that interruption, he goes home for sure.

Tim Henman added

If Sinner wins the Australian Open, he will become the second man, after Novak Djokovic, to lift three consecutive titles at Melbourne Park. He needs the French Open title to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Also read: Novak Djokovic Gives an Emotional Salute to Stan Wawrinka After the Swiss’s Last Australian Open Match