Jannik Sinner suffered a stunning defeat to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo late last week.
Sinner, the overwhelming favourite to win his first Roland Garros title, led the Argentine 6-3, 6-2, 5-1 when his body failed him.
The Italian suffered with cramps, dizziness and sickness. In truth, he struggled to move throughout the rest of the contest.
How would you solve Jannik Sinner being allowed medical treatment for cramps?
Another incident…
He eventually lost the match in five sets, much to the surprise of former world number five Kevin Anderson.
Greg Rusedski has now offered his thoughts on the match, suggesting that Roland Garros should make a rule change moving forward.
Greg Rusedski calls for a Roland Garros roof closure rule
Roland Garros operate their heat rule policy using the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT).
Under this policy, If the WBGT hits 32.2 C (90 F), play is suspended. This temperature was not reached during Jannik Sinner’s loss to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo.
There is no rule in place for roof closure, unlike at the Australian Open.
After watching Jannik Sinner’s stunning defeat in Paris, Greg Rusedski [pictured below] has stated that Roland Garros should look to implement a roof closure rule to protect players from the heat.
“Let’s be honest you want to protect your Sinners for the history of the game,” the former British number one said on the Off Court with Greg Rusedski podcast.
“This has been freakish weather in Paris and people have left questions for us. One of the questions I found fascinating was isn’t there a temperature rule when they can close the roof?
“We have seen in Australia that they have closed the roof when the temperatures have got unbearably hot so the players can play in cooler conditions.
“Surprisingly that has not happened in Paris. So do they use that rule or has it not been hot enough for them to close the roof on centre court during that period?”
Novak Djokovic, a three-time champion in Paris, recently pushed back against the idea of closing the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier in hot weather conditions, claiming it wouldn’t be fair to those playing on the outside courts around the grounds.
Djokovic’s comments were put to Rusedski, to which he responded by saying: “The problem I have is that in my generation the ball was quicker and the courts were faster, so the points were a little bit shorter.
“Now you look at the battles and the depth. We feel that 1-2 and maybe 4-10 wasn’t as strong, but 10-300 is massively more depth, so you are not getting any of the easy matches, as we saw in the first week of the French Open.
“Everything was gangbusters in the men’s and women’s, five sets here and there, because everyone is getting better.
You need to have a bit more speed so they can have some short, sharp points.
“Imagine if you are a basketball player or a footballer, they play 90 minutes and then have extra time. But you are talking about guys playing four or five hour matches, have one day of rest and then coming back to play four or five hours.
“On top of that put the heat to the extreme measure. We are only talking when we get to the extreme heat rule and Paris has been brutal. Jannik could not have prepared any better for the events but the weather in Europe was freezing.
“All of a sudden you dial the switch up and if that is something you struggle with then that’s out of your control.
“Yes, it needs to be an outdoor tournament but some tournaments will start super late like Washington, which would only start at 5pm because the temperature and humidity was insane.
“I am worried about players’ health and longevity so there needs to be some speed. I think you still want to have it decided like basketball is indoor, baseball is a whole team out there. What individual sport goes for five hours with no end?
“I don’t know any other sport that does that and then expects you to come back a day later and play and sometimes back to back days in those conditions.
“I think you have got to have a heat rule where the roof gets closed at times, to protect everybody just for their health. That is something I would like to see.”
Where does Jannik Sinner’s defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo rank among the most shocking results in tennis history?
The Australian Open heat rule
The Australian Open, notoriously the hottest Grand Slam event on the tennis calendar, implements a heat rule to protect players from soaring temperatures in Melbourne.
The event uses a ‘Heat Stress Scale, and this scale is based on humidity, radiant heat, wind speed and air temperature.
When the scale reaches 4.0, a 10-minute break between sets is permitted.
At 5.0, play is suspended for all matches and practice on outside courts, and the The roofs on Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, and John Cain Arena are closed for the remainder of any match taking place on those courts.
Jannik Sinner benefitted from the Australian Open’s heat rule earlier this year.
Sinner was struggling physically against Eliot Spizzirri when protocol allowed the roof to be closed on Rod Laver Arena.
The Italian went on to recover sufficiently and win the match in four sets.