MELBOURNE – John McEnroe questioned the timing of the decision to close the roof during Jannik Sinner’s match at the Australian Open.
“It looks like there’s favouritism…if the shoe was in the other foot, I’d like to hope that they would pull the plug also…I don’t know if they would have,” said the seven-time Grand Slam champion during ESPN’s broadcast, as reported by Australian outlet The First Serve.
On Saturday, the two-time defending champion was struggling in his third-round match at the Australian Open: severe cramps in his legs barely allowed him to walk as he was trailing against Eliot Spizzirri.
“I don’t know what to do,” he told his team at his lowest point of the match on Rod Laver Arena, amid an extreme heatwave that hit Melbourne and forced play to be suspended for several hours on the outside courts.
“I don’t know what to do”, tells Jannik Sinner to his team.
And great news for the Italian…the play is suspended due to high temperatures. Roof will be closed. pic.twitter.com/CLi2L8bG4Q— Clay (@_claymagazine) January 24, 2026
With the score at 4–6, 6–3, 1–3, after conceding a crucial service break, the tournament’s heat stress scale reached level five, forcing the suspension of play on the outside courts and the closure of the retractable roof on the main show courts. The temperature had climbed to 38°C.
The decision taken by chair umpire Fergus Murphy gave the Italian an eight-minute break, after which he returned to the court in much better shape. Sinner admitted that fortune was on his side.
“I had physical problems today. We all saw that. I was lucky with the heat rule: they closed the roof. I took my time, and as the minutes went by, I started to feel better and better,” said the world No. 2.
The Wimbledon champion denied having received any treatment during that pause.
“I was alone, there was no treatment. You’re not allowed to receive treatment during that time, so I was just stretching. I lay down for five minutes, trying to relax my muscles. It worked really well. I tried to lower my body temperature a bit, that was all. There isn’t much you can do. The time went by quite quickly, but it definitely helped.”
With the roof closed, fresher legs and a ten-minute break between the third and fourth sets, Sinner escaped trouble and secured his place in the last 16 of the Australian Open.
Initially, his match against Luciano Darderi had been scheduled for the Margaret Court Arena. However, the recent announcement of Jakub Mensik’s withdrawal — who was set to face Djokovic in the fourth round on Rod Laver Arena — will force a reshuffle of the schedule.
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