MELBOURNE, Australia — Play on Rod Laver Arena, the Australian Open’s biggest court, was suspended Monday afternoon because of a broken net.
The incident happened at the start of the fourth set in the fourth-round match between world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and the No. 13 seed Holger Rune.
Trailing 1-0 in the set, Sinner hit a serve that broke the bolt attaching the net to the court.
Net bolts consist of two parts — one attached to a strap that is wrapped around the net, and the other screwed into the court. Sinner broke the second part, uprooting it from the court, which caused a substantial delay.
The players were told to leave the court, and before leaving Sinner told his team that he understood there would be a 20-minute break. The staff members were able to find a fix slightly quicker, drilling a new housing for the fixed part of the net bolt. By the time Sinner and Rune returned to the court and had a quick warm-up, it was just over 21 minutes between Sinner’s serve that broke the net and the match restarting.
“I was lucky today,” Sinner said in his post-match news conference of how the incident helped him to reset during a difficult match.
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Ground staff had to drill a new net housing into the court. (Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images)
The incident occurred during an already strange match, in which Sinner led 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 0-1 at the time play was stopped. Sinner looked out of sorts for long periods and there was a break of more than 11 minutes in the third set when he required medical attention, which included him leaving the court to receive treatment after having a monitor attached to his finger.
At that point, Sinner, the defending Australian Open champion, looked in real danger of being knocked out by a resurgent Rune, who was playing with authority after a difficult 2024. But following the medical timeout, which appeared to be for both an injury and discomfort with the heat in Melbourne, Sinner broke his opponent and pinched the third set. Rune had required treatment on his right knee before the final game of the set.
Sinner ultimately prevailed in four sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. He will play either Alex De Minaur or Alex Michelsen in the quarterfinals.
(Photo: Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images)
