Jannik Sinner Just Did Something Roland-Garros Hasn't Seen Since 2000
Jannik Sinner, the No. 1-ranked men’s tennis player in the world, routinely does the seemingly impossible. The Italian phenom entered the 2026 French Open at Roland-Garros on a 29-match winning streak, and he cruised to his 30th straight win by defeating Clement Tabur in straight sets in the first round.
Then, the seemingly impossible happened.
Sinner, 24, lost his second-round match to No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo in five sets, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. The result would be shocking regardless of how it came about, but Sinner seemed to be firmly in control after winning the first two sets and leading 5-1 in the third set.
According to ESPN, Sinner’s loss marks the first time the top-seeded man has exited Roland-Garros in the opening rounds since Andre Agassi lost in the second round of the 2000 French Open.
Unlike Agassi, who was fined for skipping media obligations after his loss, Sinner answered for what went wrong on the court after his defeat on Wednesday.
“I struggled [and] started to feel very dizzy,” Sinner said of how he felt in the third set. “Very low of energy and tried to serve it out, but [I] didn’t have a lot of energy. Fourth set, I let it go a little bit, trying to have a bit more energy in the fifth. […] I woke up this morning, didn’t feel very well, and tried to keep the points very short.”
He later added, “I don’t remember the last time I felt this weak, but, look, it is what it is. I tried to stay there with all I had today, and this was the maximum I had. Of course, a pity because I was playing really well the first couple of sets and also the third set, was playing really well, but that’s the sport.”
Sinner had won five straight ATP Masters 1000 titles, but the French Open has been elusive. It remains the lone major missing from Sinner’s trophy case, as he has won the Australian Open (2024, ’25), Wimbledon (2025), and the US Open (2024).
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 12:32 PM.