Broken net at the Australian Open delays Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune in the fourth round

MELBOURNE, Australia — Play at Rod Laver Arena, the Australian Open’s main course, was suspended Monday afternoon because of a broken net.

The incident happened at the start of the fourth set of the fourth-round match between world no. 1 Jannik Sinner and no. The 13th seed Holger Rune.

Trailing 1-0 in the set, Sinner hit a serve that broke the bolt that attached the net to the court. The tournament staff tried to screw it back in, but after they failed, they asked the players to return to the locker room.

Before he left, Sinner told his team he understood there would be a 20-minute break. The staff was able to find a solution a little quicker, but when the players returned to the court and had a quick warm-up, just over 21 minutes passed between Sinner’s serve breaking the net and the game restarting.

The incident happened during an already strange match in which Sinner was leading 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 stoppage of more than 11 minutes in the third set when he required medical attention, which included leaving the court to receive treatment after having a monitor attached to his finger.

At the time, Sinner, the defending Australian Open champion, looked in real danger of being knocked out by a resurgent Rune, playing with authority after a difficult 2024. But after the medical timeout, which appeared to be for both an injury and discomfort with the heat on a toasty day in Melbourne, Sinner broke his opponent and clinched the third set. Rune had required treatment on his right knee before the final game of the set.

The momentum seemed to be back with Sinner, who was able to come off the field and reassess after a grueling game up to that point.

The winner of the match will face either Alex De Minaur or Alex Michelsen in the quarter-finals.

(Photo: Martin Keep/AFP via Getty Images)