Jannik Sinner battles through sweltering conditions to reach fourth round

Jannik Sinner’s hopes of a third successive Australian Open title were saved by the heat rule as the second seed fought off cramp and American Eliot Spizzirri to reach the fourth round.

The Italian was in big trouble early in the third set on Rod Laver Arena as his legs seized up but, at the same moment, the tournament’s heat stress scale hit five, triggering the closing of the roof.

Sinner continued to look uncomfortable but, out of the punishing sun and with air conditioning cooling the arena, he battled to a 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory.

“I struggled physically a bit today,” said the relieved second seed. “I got lucky with the heat rule and the roof closing. I took my time and as the time passed I felt better and better.

“I’m very happy about this performance. Looking back at every big tournament there were some tough matches. Hopefully this can give me some positives for the next round.”

While Sinner was ultimately fortunate with the timing, he could consider himself somewhat hard done by to be scheduled second on, with temperatures climbing rapidly during the early afternoon.

Organisers had pushed the start of play on the main courts forward by an hour with extreme heat forecast of up to 40 degrees for the first time this fortnight, meaning the Italian took to Rod Laver Arena just after midday.

Sinner is known to find such conditions difficult – last year here his only struggle came in the fourth round against Holger Rune when it was hot, while his last defeat, in Shanghai in October, saw him retire with cramp against Tallon Griekspoor.

Against Spizzirri, a 24-year-old debutant ranked 85, Sinner’s initial problems were with his own game, the four-time grand slam champion making a host of unexpected errors and losing five