DEFENDING CHAMPION JANNIK Sinner battled dizzy spells on Monday in energy-sapping heat to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals, admitting a long interruption when he accidentally broke the net was “big, big luck”.
The world number one again dropped a set before coming home 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Danish 13th seed Holger Rune on Rod Laver Arena with both men needing medical attention.
Sinner struggled in the muggy conditions, his hand visibly shaking and his heart rate taken in the third set before he left court for a medical timeout. Rune needed attention to a sore right knee in the same set.
They then had a bizarre 20-minute delay when Sinner demolished the metal brace that secures the net to the floor with a thunderous serve early in set four.
“I was not feeling really well. You know, I think we saw that today I was struggling physically,” said Sinner, 23, who is bidding to become the first Italian man to win three Grand Slam crowns.
He refused to say exactly what was wrong with him, only that he was “not there health-wise” and had been “a bit dizzy at times”.
“I don’t want to go into details. I think it was, you know, then also with the pressure and everything, it was not easy.”
He admitted that the time off court in air-conditioning while officials repaired the net helped him refresh.
“I was lucky today that… 20 minutes off court, you know, trying to get back physically, putting some cold water in my head, it was very helpful. It was big, big luck to me today.”
The win put him into a clash against Australia’s big hope, eighth seed Alex de Minaur, or young American Alex Michelsen.
The Italian is bidding to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time after winning the first of his two majors in Melbourne last year, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final.
- Labouring -
As temperatures rose above 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) for a second successive day, Sinner stamped his authority on the match by breaking to love, with Rune hitting four consecutive errors.
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Sinner’s serve was iron-clad and there was no sniff for the Dane, who went a set down in 33 minutes.
But a Sinner double-fault in the eighth game of set two handed Rune a break, allowing him to hold and level the match as he began to find his rhythm.
It was the second set Sinner had dropped in the tournament, having not done so in 13 previous matches.
Sinner clung on to hold in an epic game three in the third set, which included a remarkable 37-shot rally that the Italian won to save break point.
He gave Rune another break point at 2-2 with a double fault, but again saved, yet he was labouring.
At the changeover, a doctor checked him and he went off for a medical timeout.
Sinner returned and slogged through a testing 14-point eighth game to break for 5-3 before sealing the set.
After the delay while the net was fixed, he produced a top-notch forehand winner to break for 2-1 in the fourth set and there was no way back for a tiring Rune.
Iga Swiatek waves after defeating Eva Lys of Germany. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Iga Swiatek showed no mercy as she ended “lucky loser” Eva Lys’s historic run at the Australian Open , the world number two marching into the quarter-finals 6-0, 6-1.
There was to be no happy ending to Lys’s incredible story against the ruthless five-time Grand Slam champion from Poland, who will meet either Emma Navarro or Daria Kasatkina for a place in the semi-finals.
“There’s a lot to improve. I don’t feel like I’m in my peak yet,” said Swiatek, who has dropped only two games in her last two matches.
“For sure, matches like that give me confidence and I feel like I’m playing a good game.”
Swiatek has a patchy record in Melbourne, only reaching the semi-finals once, in 2022, but warned she was in the mood this year.
“I usually didn’t feel comfortable at the Australian Open with my game,” she said.
“But this year it’s a bit better. So I’m just enjoying being on the court and off the court as well. Because for sure I have an amazing time here, and hopefully it’s gonna last even longer.”
Lys fleetingly threatened another shock when she created two break points in the opening game, but Swiatek stepped up her pace to save both.
From then on the result was inevitable and the former world number one showed the gulf in class as she flattened the German in an hour.
Swiatek conceded just 10 points in an opening set that lasted 24 minutes.
When Swiatek took a 3-0 lead in the second, an embarrassing “double bagel” 6-0, 6-0 scoreline loomed.
But Lys finally managed to hold her serve and raised her arms in celebration with her beaming smile eliciting a massive ovation from the packed Rod Laver Arena.
The 23-year-old Swiatek has been in imperious form, dropping just 11 games in her four wins at Melbourne Park.
For world number 128 Lys it was the end of what she called “an insane story”.
She made the last 16 after getting a reprieve into the main draw, having losing in qualifying, when 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya withdrew minutes before her opening match.
Had Lys advanced she would have become the first lucky loser in history to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.
But the 23-year-old had already made history by reaching the fourth round at Melbourne Park, a feat not achieved by a women’s lucky loser since the tournament moved there in 1988.
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Sinner defies dizzy spells to reach Melbourne last eight
DEFENDING CHAMPION JANNIK Sinner battled dizzy spells on Monday in energy-sapping heat to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals, admitting a long interruption when he accidentally broke the net was “big, big luck”.
The world number one again dropped a set before coming home 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Danish 13th seed Holger Rune on Rod Laver Arena with both men needing medical attention.
Sinner struggled in the muggy conditions, his hand visibly shaking and his heart rate taken in the third set before he left court for a medical timeout. Rune needed attention to a sore right knee in the same set.
They then had a bizarre 20-minute delay when Sinner demolished the metal brace that secures the net to the floor with a thunderous serve early in set four.
“I was not feeling really well. You know, I think we saw that today I was struggling physically,” said Sinner, 23, who is bidding to become the first Italian man to win three Grand Slam crowns.
He refused to say exactly what was wrong with him, only that he was “not there health-wise” and had been “a bit dizzy at times”.
“I don’t want to go into details. I think it was, you know, then also with the pressure and everything, it was not easy.”
He admitted that the time off court in air-conditioning while officials repaired the net helped him refresh.
“I was lucky today that… 20 minutes off court, you know, trying to get back physically, putting some cold water in my head, it was very helpful. It was big, big luck to me today.”
The win put him into a clash against Australia’s big hope, eighth seed Alex de Minaur, or young American Alex Michelsen.
The Italian is bidding to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time after winning the first of his two majors in Melbourne last year, beating Daniil Medvedev in the final.
- Labouring -
As temperatures rose above 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) for a second successive day, Sinner stamped his authority on the match by breaking to love, with Rune hitting four consecutive errors.
Sinner’s serve was iron-clad and there was no sniff for the Dane, who went a set down in 33 minutes.
But a Sinner double-fault in the eighth game of set two handed Rune a break, allowing him to hold and level the match as he began to find his rhythm.
It was the second set Sinner had dropped in the tournament, having not done so in 13 previous matches.
Sinner clung on to hold in an epic game three in the third set, which included a remarkable 37-shot rally that the Italian won to save break point.
He gave Rune another break point at 2-2 with a double fault, but again saved, yet he was labouring.
At the changeover, a doctor checked him and he went off for a medical timeout.
Sinner returned and slogged through a testing 14-point eighth game to break for 5-3 before sealing the set.
After the delay while the net was fixed, he produced a top-notch forehand winner to break for 2-1 in the fourth set and there was no way back for a tiring Rune.
Iga Swiatek showed no mercy as she ended “lucky loser” Eva Lys’s historic run at the Australian Open , the world number two marching into the quarter-finals 6-0, 6-1.
There was to be no happy ending to Lys’s incredible story against the ruthless five-time Grand Slam champion from Poland, who will meet either Emma Navarro or Daria Kasatkina for a place in the semi-finals.
“There’s a lot to improve. I don’t feel like I’m in my peak yet,” said Swiatek, who has dropped only two games in her last two matches.
“For sure, matches like that give me confidence and I feel like I’m playing a good game.”
Swiatek has a patchy record in Melbourne, only reaching the semi-finals once, in 2022, but warned she was in the mood this year.
“I usually didn’t feel comfortable at the Australian Open with my game,” she said.
“But this year it’s a bit better. So I’m just enjoying being on the court and off the court as well. Because for sure I have an amazing time here, and hopefully it’s gonna last even longer.”
Lys fleetingly threatened another shock when she created two break points in the opening game, but Swiatek stepped up her pace to save both.
From then on the result was inevitable and the former world number one showed the gulf in class as she flattened the German in an hour.
Swiatek conceded just 10 points in an opening set that lasted 24 minutes.
When Swiatek took a 3-0 lead in the second, an embarrassing “double bagel” 6-0, 6-0 scoreline loomed.
But Lys finally managed to hold her serve and raised her arms in celebration with her beaming smile eliciting a massive ovation from the packed Rod Laver Arena.
The 23-year-old Swiatek has been in imperious form, dropping just 11 games in her four wins at Melbourne Park.
For world number 128 Lys it was the end of what she called “an insane story”.
She made the last 16 after getting a reprieve into the main draw, having losing in qualifying, when 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya withdrew minutes before her opening match.
Had Lys advanced she would have become the first lucky loser in history to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.
But the 23-year-old had already made history by reaching the fourth round at Melbourne Park, a feat not achieved by a women’s lucky loser since the tournament moved there in 1988.
– © AFP 2025
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