Jannik Sinner exits French Open after shock defeat in second round

In a shock upset at the ongoing French Open, Italian tennis star, Jannik Sinner crashed out of the tournament in Paris. The 24-year-old was heavily defeated by Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo after five sets (6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 1-6, 1-6) on Thursday, May 28, 2026 at Court Philippe Chatrier.

With this unprecedented defeat that led to a second round exit from Roland Garros, Sinner's 30-match winning streak came to an end and the shocking loss has opened up the Men's singles competition in Paris.

Jannik Sinner’s stint at the 2026 French Open ends after two rounds

The world watched on in shock as World No.1 Jannik Sinner, the leading title contender at the 2026 French Open stumbled and collapsed in front of Juan Manuel Cerundolo on Thursday.

With Carlos Alcaraz out of the Grand Slam tournament due to an injury, Sinner was seen as invincible at Roland Garros and was expected to close the gap of Grand Slam wins with the Spaniard. However, his dreams came crashing down as the Paris heat seemed to take a toll on the athlete.

With Sinner out, the Men's Singles event has become more interesting. Moreover, the last nine Grand Slams were won by either Sinner or Alcaraz which will not be the case this time.

Jannik Sinner's wait for a Career Grand Slam continues

Jannik Sinner was looking at a comfortable win after winning the first two sets. He was also closing in on victory with a lead in the third set when things took a turn. With heatwave threatening Europe, players are having to deal with terrible weather conditions and that may have caused Sinner to feel dizzy.

The Italian sought medical treatment as he looked fatigued and tried to cool himself down with ice packs and mineral drinks but it was too late. Once he came back on the court, his dominance had disappeared and Cerundolo bagged a historic victory, one probably he did not think he would have.

The Argentine won the third set and took control of the match completely. Sinner could not recover and had to suffer the hard-hitting defeat, with the wait for a career Grand Slam extended. Cerundolo proceeded to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.

Accept and move on

Jannik Sinner is yet to win a French Open title and this year seemed to be his. However, the tennis player refused to blame the heat for his defeat and said that he had been sick since morning. "Woke up, didn’t feel very well and tried to keep the points very short...Also, in the beginning I was hitting very clean, very good, and then I kind of hit the wall", he said.

The defeat is shocking and hard to accept and Sinner agrees. "It’s tough to accept because of the position where I’ve been in and everything considered, but now I have a lot of time to recover", he said.

Sinner expressed his wish to take some time to recover so that he can "process what went wrong" and bounce back before Wimbledon.

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