At this moment, number one is destroying the place

Australian Open

At this moment, number one is destroying the place

Curious incident at the Australian Open: Jannik Sinner tears the net from its anchorage with a powerful serve. The game had to be interrupted.

The fourth set was underway in the game between Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune in the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Two hours and 43 minutes had been played, the world number one was serving, Rune was behind 1-2 after sets, but led 1-0 in the fourth set. Sinner hit hard – and destroyed the net.

The felt ball hit the anchor in the middle of the pitch, where the net is screwed into the ground. And the net suddenly dangled in the air. The referee stopped the game, the net referee came to center court, she tried to screw the holder tight. But the round hook was torn out and had apparently damaged the thread in the floor. No hooks, no net. So the chair referee had to interrupt the game for the time being and sent the players to the dressing rooms.

Several court technicians entered Center Court and worked on the threads in the floor. Soon a whole bunch of employees stood around the crime scene and examined it corpus delicti. The minutes ticked by and the whole thing was reminiscent of the Madrid goal. At that time, shortly before the kick-off of the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, the goal post broke and caused the housing to collapse. It took 76 minutes until the groundskeepers were able to repair the goal and the game started.

In Melbourne it took around twenty minutes for the net to be back in place and firmly anchored. The players came back onto the pitch. Sinner won the first game of the fourth set, after which he even managed a break against the Dane Rune. The involuntary break apparently didn’t do him any harm. Although it was 32 degrees outside in Melbourne that day – it is usually even hotter on the pitch –

“It was really strange this morning, somehow I didn’t feel good and I knew it would be a difficult match,” said the Italian. He spoke to the doctors and they helped him. But above all, the audience carried him forward. “Without you I wouldn’t have been able to do this today,” Sinner said in the post-match interview with Jim Courier.

Sinner kept his nerve and struggled through the game even though he wasn’t in top form. He also didn’t let the broken network bother him. Finally the favorite won 6:3, 3:6, 6:3, 6:2 against Rune. In the next round the winner of the duel Alex Michelsen (USA) and the Australian Alex de Minaur awaits him.