What happened in Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune's dramatic Australian Open match? Dizziness, multiple timeouts, and everything you need to know

Jannik Sinner progressed to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after a bizarre contest with Holger Rune, which involved multiple stoppages and medical timeouts as the pair battled through 32-degree heat. The World No. 1 prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the end, but the scoreline doesn't reflect Sinner's difficulties in the match.

The Italian seemed to be limping throughout the tie, and at 2-1 in the third set, after one ten-minute game, he was seen visibly shaking in his chair at the changeover. At 2-2, Sinner was having a conversation with his team and visibly struggling.

Finally, at 3-2 in the set, he called a medical timeout after two particularly strenuous service games, after which he returned, albeit still looking pale and unwell. Remarkably, and perhaps aided by Rune's 15 unforced errors, Sinner improved to 5-3 in the set, shortly before Rune himself called for the doctor and another short interval in the game.

By the fourth set, it seemed that Sinner had fully recovered his strength - so much so that he could launch a thunderous serve in his first service game that shattered the net's tension ring, bringing about another 21-minute delay as the ring was replaced.

After the match, Sinner opened up about his health issues and said:

"I was not feeling really well. You know, I think we saw that today I was struggling physically. I was not there health-wise and a bit dizzy at times. I don't want to go into details. I think it was, you know, then also with the pressure and everything, it was not easy."

Amid the intense Melbourne heat, Sinner's fourth-round opponent was sympathetic to the Italian's struggles and the requirement for the medical timeouts.

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Holger Rune also struggled in the heat but understood Sinner's need for a timeout

2025 Australian Open - Source: Getty

Holger Rune, on the other hand, was left to rue a missed opportunity to capitalize on his opponent's physical woes. The Dane threw in 54 unforced errors in the match and revealed later that he too struggled in the conditions.

Asked if he felt that Sinner's 11-minute medical timeout had influenced the game, he told the post-match press conference:

"It was perfectly fine that they checked. I was aslo feeling it so it was fair that he got checked. It took longer than I expected, so that was a bit brutal in the middle of the set, but it is what it is. The third set was really,really tough, we had long rallies and I was almost dying also, so it was a struggle and I could see he was struggling."

For his part, Sinner did not doubt that the combined 30-plus minutes of delays played a significant part in his victory and that they came at the perfect time in the match for him to recover and kick on. He said:

"It's tough, tough conditions - you know every pIayer struggles a little bit... I was lucky today that... 20 minutes off court, you know, trying to get back physically, putting some cold water in my head, it was very helpful. It was big, big luck to me today."

The World No. 1 will resume his Australian Open title defense on Wednesday, January 22, as he takes on Alex De Minaur in the quarterfinals.