ALL-TIME BOILOVER… literally: Unstoppable world No.1 Jannik Sinner OUT of Roland Garros thanks to heatwave

Jannik Sinner has been the world’s most dominant player for the past two months but the Italian’s Achilles heel, extreme vulnerability in the heat, has cost him the prize he wants the most in a French Open stunner.

The world No.1 was sensationally beaten at Roland Garros on Thursday firstly by the sizzling sunshine, and as a result Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo, when succumbing to heat stroke within sight of the finish line on Thursday.

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Sinner’s 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 loss ends an extraordinary duopoly of dominance from he and Carlos Alcaraz, whose title defence was ruined by a wrist injury, that saw the stars win the past nine grand slams.

All eyes will now turn to Novak Djokovic, whose last title came at the US Open in 2023, as he strives to win a 25th grand slam title that would see him stand alone across all-comers when it comes to major singles titles.

A raging favourite to complete the career Grand Slam in Paris, Sinner was in a dominant position when leading Cerundolo 6-3 6-2 5-1 when the heat stress that almost cooked him in Melbourne earlier this year struck again.

Having dominated the clay court season on route to becoming the youngest man ever to complete a full set of Masters titles, Sinner won 17 of the first 23 games against Cerundolo. And then he hit the heat wall, claiming just two of the last 20 games.

He later said that he awoke feeling below par, and as a result tried to keep the points short, but “hit the wall”, but he was reluctant to attribute his collapse to the heat despite his history in hot weather.

“I felt this morning I didn’t sleep very well. This morning when I woke up, I was struggling a bit, but you know, this can happen,” he said.

“Usually in Grand Slams you have a couple of days where you don’t feel perfect. This was today.”

Sinner had the luckiest of escapes in Melbourne against Eliot Spizzirri when the heat policy was triggered at an opportune time, allowing him to refresh himself off the court as the Rod Laver Arena roof closed during his third round match.

But the heat policy in Paris is starkly different and there was no delay in play nor closure of the roof this time. He was forced to struggle in the sunshine, something that has bothered several top-line players this week already.

In extraordinary scenes, the four-time major champion dropped 15 points in a row when within a game of winning before taking a medical time out at 5-4 0-40 in the set after a discussion with the umpire as to whether he could stop immediately.

Sinner later said he did not believe the heat was as exacting in Paris as other cities where he has had issues, but clearly he was troubled, as several other players have been as well this week.

“I think Shanghai was very tough. (The) humidity is very high. Australia was very, very warm, I do remember. (But) it’s different when you play on hard court, because the heat comes also underneath,” he said.

“Here … it was warm, but it was okay. It was not like I was dying because of the heat. I think today was completely different scenario, but again, this can happen.

“It’s tough to accept, of course, because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered.,

now I have a lot of time to recover.”

The decision to allow Sinner to take leave from the court at 5-4 0-40 drew significant criticism.

Commentating for US network TNT, dual-Australian Open champion Jim Courier was perplexed by the call to allow Sinner, who said he was dehydrated, to leave the court. Ultimately it did not alter the result but it raised eyebrows.

“She is going to give him the benefit of the doubt in feeling this might be an injury. This is unquestionably not an injury. You don’t get a medical time out for this,” he said.

“This is unbelievably lucky for him. This is unfair for Cerundolo. The clock should be counting. He should be getting penalised for this. This is not an injury. It is clearly cramping.

“We love the top players. They drive the sport. But you have to apply the rules fairly. The rules are being bent for the top players. You cannot tell me you have to take him off court to check his vitals. This is absolute balony.”

Former British number one Tim Henman queried the decision of umpire Aurelie Tourte to approach him on the court when he was physically struggling.

“The umpire shouldn’t be getting off her chair. It’s not her responsibility, that’s the player’s responsibility,” he said on TNT.

“I don’t see why he should get the benefit of going into an air-conditioned room.”

The decision to schedule Sinner for the midday match on Philippe Chatrier Stadium – it is customary for women to kickstart the day’s play on centre court in Paris – had been dissected at length beforehand given the Italian’s history in the heat.

With the French capital in the midst of a heat wave, the temperature rises through the day with the hottest part of the afternoon tending to be between 3pm to 7pm this week. It was 32C when Sinner’s campaign ended, with the feel factor higher.

The stunning departure of Sinner opens the door for Novak Djokovic, the only former champion left in the draw, to push for a 25th grand slam title. The Serbian legend is due to play new sensation Joao Fonseca on Friday afternoon in Paris.

Cerundolo, who remained calm when realising the peril his opponent was facing, was able to work the Italian over in the final three sets to reach the third round of a grand slam for the first time.

He said afterwards he felt for his rival, who was clearly unwell but battled to the end in the hope his health might return.

“Of course I’m super happy,” he said.

“I think I was a little bit lucky,. I feel sorry for him because he deserve to win a lot of matches and of course he was deserving to win in this match.

“But then I don’t know what happened, I think he was cramping maybe, or maybe the pressure, I don’t know. But of course I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers.”

Sinner, who played a significant amount of tennis through the sunshine swing at Indian Wells and Miami before winning the Monte Carlo Masters, the Madrid Masters and also the Italian Open, will take a break before defending his Wimbledon title.