Bizarre scenes as Jannik Sinner vs Holger Rune Australian Open clash gets interrupted by unprecedented incident

The Australian Open fourth-round clash between Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune saw a bizarre interruption in the fourth set. The match was already delayed heading into the set, with both players opting for medical time-outs that went on for several minutes.

After taking the opening set 6-3, Sinner experienced a setback in the second, losing it 3-6 in unexpected fashion. The World No. 1 was visibly suffering from an injury in the second set and finally took a medical timeout at the end of the set, halting play for 11 minutes.

In the third, he recouped and held Rune at bay until 3-3 before finally breaking to go 5-3 up. At that point, the Dane took a medical timeout himself, stopping play for a while before returning to court. However, Jannik Sinner went on to take the set 6-3 to move within one set of a quarterfinal berth.

In the fourth, after Rune went 1-0 up with a hold of serve, Sinner hit a serve into the net, which unscrewed the clamp that was holding the net at the right height. The chair umpire quickly intervened, hoping to get things fixed as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, that did not prove to be the case, as the court staff agreed on the fact that it would take longer to fix. As a result, after consultation with the tournament referee, Sinner and Rune were told to leave the court and go into the locker room. Play was suspended on Rod Laver Arena, with commentators on air speculating that it would take 15-20 minutes to fix the issue with the net.

As predicted, the clash resumed after a few minutes, following which Sinner proceeded to seal victory in four sets. The Italian broke his opponent's serve twice to take the fourth set 6-2 and book his spot in the quarterfinals.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner to take on either Alex Michelsen or Alex de Minaur in Australian Open QF

2025 Australian Open - Day 9 - Source: Getty

Following his win over Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner will next take on either Alex Michelsen or Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Australian Open. The duo take on each other in the fourth round later on Monday.

Should he reach the semifinals, Sinner is likely to run into either Lorenzo Sonego or Ben Shelton, followed by a potential final against either Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev in the final.