Unwell Sinner Overcomes Shaking And Rune In Drama-Filled Match At Australian Open
News
Jannik Sinner won probably the most dramatic match of this year's Australian Open so far when he beat Holger Rune in the fourth round of the tournament.
These two youngsters met four times before playing in Melbourne, and every single time, their match reached the deciding set. Historically, there hasn't been a lot separating them, so fans at the Rod Laver Arena were certainly excited ahead of this fourth-round match.
Coming into it, Sinner had a slight advantage. In his first three matches at the 2025 Australian Open, which included a quick win over Marcos Giron, he spent only seven hours and 32 minutes on the tennis courts, which was two hours and 37 minutes less than his opponent. Technically, a full match less.
The start of the match probably looked different than fans expected. Sinner held in his first service games, and after Rune made four errors in the second game, he was down 0-2 after only five minutes of play. The Italian player then added another quick break, and the scoreboard showed 3-0.
For the remainder of the set, the young Dane couldn't come back from the one-break deficit. That's why Sinner had no issues winning the set 6-3 in only 33 minutes of play. But the match got properly dramatic in the second set.
Early on, Rune had to save two break points, as he made a double fault and committed three unforced errors in one game. Luckily for him, a couple of timely winners saved him, and he led 3-2.
A few games later, Sinner felt the heat inside the Rod Laver Arena, and he couldn't control his nerves. He made two unforced errors when trailing 3-4 to give his opponent a chance to break. On a break point, the ATP World No. 1 player double-faulted as Rune broke to lead 5-3.
The Danish player then had only one job, and that was serving out the first set. He did that without too many issues, winning the second set 6-3 to level the score of the match. During and after the set, however, it was clear that Sinner was physically struggling, as he only slowly walked off the court.
That apparently didn't help the top seed, as he continued struggling also at the start of the third set. While Rune held his serve easily, Sinner had to battle for it in two of his first three service games.
The Italian player faced a total of four break points in those two games, but he managed to save two of them with aces and another one with a winner in a 37-shot rally, which was one of the rallies of the tournament.
Players were really feeling the heat, and leading 3-2 in the third set, Sinner requested a medical timeout. That ended up lasting 11 minutes, stopping the play for quite some time, as the Italian player had to leave the court, and he also had his blood pressure checked.
It was clear that the top seed was not well, which was confirmed by a shaking episode he experienced only a couple of games before requesting the medical timeout.
Ultimately, Sinner could continue playing, and he played well in the third set. The Italian player led 4-3 when Rune played a very erratic game. On the one hand, he started it by hitting three winners, but at the same time, he also made two double faults in between.
Thanks to that, the game got to a deuce, and every time Rune had a game point, he made an unforced error. There were only so many chances to win a game that the Danish player could miss out on, as Sinner capitalized on his mistakes, breaking to lead 5-3 and later winning the set 6-3.
The fourth set got off to a weird start. Rune won his first service game, but with his first serve in the second game, Sinner broke the net, and the play had to be suspended.
Usually, this issue is fixed very quickly, but in this case, the housing for the screw broke, so a new hole had to be drilled on the court, which is why players left the court, and the play was suspended for 17 minutes.
Once the players returned, they had to warm up again, but the match could continue without too many interruptions. Sinner looked very refreshed, and he dominated the rest of the match.
The Italian player won it 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the 2025 Australian Open. His next opponent will be the winner of the match between Alex de Minaur and Alex Michelsen.
