Andre Agassi slams Jannik Sinner over French Open ‘tap out’

Andre Agassi has taken aim at Jannik Sinner’s preparation after the world No. 1’s extraordinary second-round exit at Roland Garros, suggesting a failure in the Italian’s hydration strategy may have been behind one of the most shocking collapses in recent Grand Slam memory.

Sinner arrived in Paris as the overwhelming favorite to win a first French Open title and complete the career Grand Slam. He was two sets up and leading 5-1 in the third against world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo before his body simply gave out, ultimately losing 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 on a sweltering afternoon at Philippe Chatrier.

During the collapse, Sinner took a medical timeout and was overheard telling his trainer he felt dizzy and nauseous. He later admitted he had “hit a wall” with “no energy,” while stopping short of blaming the conditions outright.

“I don’t know if you called him out enough on that…” Agassi told his fellow commentators on TNT.

“I had a body clock of about four hours when I played. If you gave me hot conditions, it dropped to like 3:45-3:50… But to go from him playing five-and-a-half hours in the finals to have the heat tap him in an hour, 45. There’s a difference between being fit and being prepared.”

Agassi, an eight-time major champion who knows a thing or two about performing in extreme heat, was not prepared to let the explanation slide.

“There’s a difference between being fit and being prepared,” Agassi told TNT Sports. “I have to point to a flaw in that preparation, because there’s something you can do about it.”

The former world No. 1 revealed that ahead of major matches in hot conditions, he would consume between 10 and 12 liters of water in the preceding 24 hours alongside a strict nutritional plan. The principle, he said, was simple — you load up in advance, not in the moment.

“It’s better to have it in you and not need it than to need it and not have it,” he said.

What made Sinner’s exit so hard to process was the context. Just twelve months ago he played five and a half hours in the French Open final on the same court. On Thursday, the heat had rendered him unable to compete inside two hours.

“He’s the best player on the planet right now,” Agassi said. “But there’s no excuse for him to run into a wall at an hour-fourty-five. He needs to figure out what to change.”

Agassi was careful to separate fitness from preparation, making clear he was not questioning Sinner’s dedication or physical condition. The problem, in his view, is specific and fixable — but it needs to be addressed before it costs the 23-year-old another major opportunity.

With Sinner gone, the men’s draw has cracked wide open. Second seed Alexander Zverev faces Jakub Mensik in one semifinal, while Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli will contest an all-Italian last-four tie on the other side. None of the remaining four players have ever won a Grand Slam title.