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An exciting fourth-round encounter between Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune at the Australian Open took an unexpected turn when the match was temporarily suspended after the net was accidentally broken. The unusual incident left both players off-court and the crowd waiting as the net was repaired.
A dramatic third set leads to a pause
The Monday match had already seen its fair share of disruptions, with both players taking medical timeouts. However, the match came to a complete halt early in the fourth set after an incident involving the net. Sinner, serving at 0-1, missed his first serve, and as the ball flew into the net, it hit the cord with such force that it caused significant damage. The base of the net snapped off entirely, leading to confusion among the players and officials.
Arvind Palmer, commenting on the incident, remarked, “The net has gone here. That's properly broken,” while Naomi Cavaday added, “Yeah, snapped right out of the base so we can’t continue until this gets sorted. So much going on in this match!”
A welcome delay for tired players
After the intense third set, in which both Sinner and Rune had struggled physically, the players appeared relieved by the break. Palmer noted that the players would likely appreciate the extra time to recover: "I think both players would be pretty happy for the break here, more time to recover. That has come out of the court, that."
Despite the players' relief, it soon became clear that repairing the net would take some time. The chair umpire addressed the crowd, explaining, “As you can see, we need time to fix the net as soon as possible. It’s probably going to take a few minutes, thank you for your patience.”
A match full of interruptions
This suspension added to a series of interruptions throughout the match. Sinner had taken an 11-minute medical timeout at 3-2 in the third set, while Rune also had a physio visit just before Sinner served for the lead at 5-3. Cavaday described the series of delays, saying, “This match has been full of delays. We’ve had one of the longest medical timeouts I’ve ever seen in 11 and a half minutes from Jannik.”
Tournament referee Wayne McKewen was called to the court to explain the situation to both players. Sinner was seen packing up his belongings, and there was speculation about whether they would return to the court. Cavaday remarked, “Just made a signal, it looked like it’s going to be 20 minutes. What do you do? Are you going to hold them on the court?”
After a 16-minute break, the players returned to the court to a warm reception from the crowd. The match resumed with Sinner leading 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 0-1. Despite the delays, the action picked up once again, and fans eagerly awaited the continuation of this thrilling match.
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