Jannik Sinner crashes out of 2026 French Open after stunning second-round loss against Juan Manuel Cerundolo

Tennis witnessed one of its biggest upsets in recent years after world No 1 Jannik Sinner suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of world No 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round of the French Open.

Sinner had narrowly missed out on the title after a thrilling defeat at the hands of arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros last year, and had entered the tournament as a strong favourite this year, especially with Alcaraz ruled out due to a wrist injury.

Sinner fails to win despite being two sets up

The Italian tennis star's hopes of completing a Career Grand Slam in the second Major of the year, however, dashed by his relatively unfancied opponent, who fought back from two sets down to win 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1.

He had begun his campaign with a straight-sets victory over Frenchman Clement Tabur 6-1 6-3 6-4 on Wednesday.

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The 24-year-old, however, was struggling with illness and fitness issues in the second round and watched the match gradually slip out of his grasp after taking the first two sets with relative ease and moving into a 5-1 lead in the third.

Sinner later revealed he was feeling dizzy and nauseous on Court Philippe-Chatrier and was forced to call for a medical timeout midway during the game.

Multiple players have been struggling in an unusually warm summer in Paris, with temperature going as high as 33 to 34 degrees Celsius this week, and it appears Sinner was also affected by the scorching conditions.

Sinner had been on a 30-match winning streak ahead of his second-round meeting with Cerundolo, emulating an elusive feat that had only been achieved by the legendary trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic before him in this century.

With Sinner out of the way, Djokovic becomes the new favourite to win the clay-court Grand Slam this year and finally win the 25th Major of his illustrious career, a feat that has eluded him for nearly three years. The Serbian superstar had begun his Roland Garros campaign with a come-from-behind victory over France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-4.

Djokovic registered another four-set victory over a French opponent in as many rounds on Wednesday, beating Valentin Royer 6-3 6-2 6-7 (7-9) 6-3. The 39-year-old now faces Brazil's Joao Fonseca in the third round on Friday and could meet either Casper Ruud or Tommy Paul in the fourth round, should he maintain his winning run.

The ongoing French Open will also be the first tournament since the 2023 US Open to not be won by either member of the 'Sincaraz' pair, who have dominated the men's game for the last couple of years.