French Open 2023: Jannik Sinner suffers latest shock after loss to Daniel Altmaier in five-hour epic

Jannik Sinner is out of the French Open after a shock second-round defeat to Daniel Altmaier in a five-set epic, 6-7 7-6 1-6 7-6 7-5. Altmaier, ranked No. 79 in the world, stunned the eighth seed in a match lasting five hours and 26 minutes — the fifth longest match in Roland-Garros history — on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Ad The tone was set in the first set. Sinner was pushed all the way but managed to a win the tie-break, although Altmaier levelled after the second also went all the way. Roland-Garros'He blew it' – McEnroe on SInner's shock loss to Altmaier at Roland-GarrosA MINUTE AGO The Italian found his groove to dominate the third but saw another tie-break go the way of his German opponent in the fourth after surrendering two match points.

Altmaier seized the advantage with a decisive break in the decider, and in an epic final game, saved three break points before converting his fifth match point for the victory. The contest was tightly fought from the start with Sinner powering through a tie-break without reply to clinch the opening set in just under an hour. Forcing another tie-break in the second set after Sinner had squandered the chance to break at 3-1 and set a commanding tone, Altmaier held his nerve to rally ahead and earn three set points to pull level.

But Sinner made him work, saving two of those points and then landing a backhand return for 6-6 before Altmaier annihilated an overhead to level the match with his fifth set point. The third set is where the momentum of the match looked to swing in Sinner’s favour as the seventh seed breezed through to 6-1, leaving the German with the task of winning two sets in a row. Full of heart, the 24-year-old took a three-game lead in the all-important fourth set before