Bizarre scenes as the clash between Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune at the Australian Open was interrupted by an unprecedented incident

The clash of the fourth round of the Australian Open between Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune experienced a bizarre interruption in the fourth set. The match had already been delayed before entering the set, with both players opting for medical time-outs that lasted several minutes.

After taking the first set 6-3, Sinner suffered a setback in the second, losing it 3-6 in unexpected fashion. The world number 1 was visibly suffering from the injury in the second set and finally took a medical timeout at the end of the set, stopping the game for 11 minutes.

In the third, he rallied and held Rune at bay until 3-3 before finally breaking to take a 5-3 lead. At that point, the Dane took a medical timeout himself, stopping the game for a while before returning to the court. However, Jannik Sinner took the set 6-3 and moved one set closer to the quarterfinals.

In the fourth, after Rune went up 1-0 by holding serve, Sinner hit a serve into the net, which unscrewed the clamp holding the net at the right height. The head judge quickly intervened, hoping that things would be fixed as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this did not turn out to be the case, as the court staff agreed on the fact that the repairs would take more time. As a result, after consulting with the tournament referee, Sinner and Rune were told to leave the court and go to the locker room. Play was suspended at Rod Laver Arena, with on-air commentators speculating that it would take 15-20 minutes to fix the net problem.

As predicted, the clash resumed after a few minutes, after which Sinner recorded a victory in four sets. The Italian broke his opponent’s serve twice and took the fourth set 6-2 and secured a place in the quarterfinals.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner will face either Alex Michelsen or Alex de Minaur in Australian Open qualifying

After his win over Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner will next face either Alex Michelsen or Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 2025. The duo will meet each other in the fourth round later on Monday.

If he reaches the semifinals, Sinner will likely face Lorenzo Sonega or Ben Shelton, followed by a potential final against Novak Djokovic or Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev in the final.