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'Unbelievable' Australian Open scenes as Jannik Sinner handed 'lifeline' with heat break when 'on the ropes' against Eliot Spizzirri

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Jannik Sinner suffered an almighty scare in his pursuit of a third consecutive Australian Open title when world No. 85 and Melbourne debutant Eliot Spizzirri charged a break ahead in the third set, threatening a 2-1 lead, before his momentum was halted by the suspension of play through the heat rule. Sinner - despite battling cramp - fought back after the roof was closed to reach the last 16.

'Unbelievable' - Watch Sinner get 'lifeline' as match gets suspended due to heat rule

Video credit: TNT Sports

Jannik Sinner was handed a "lifeline" when he was afforded a heat-enforced break while "on the ropes" in his Australian Open third-round match against Eliot Spizzirri.

Sinner - the two-time defending champion in Melbourne - was met with his firmest test thus far as Spizzirri charged into a set-love lead - and after being levelled by Sinner, took a break advantage in the third, as he looked to punish the Italian, who was ailing from cramp.

Spizzirri, the American world No. 85 making his first main draw appearance in Melbourne, became the first man since Ben Shelton in last year's semi-final to break Sinner, emphatically doing so to love to put the opening set back on serve early on.

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The 24-year-old quite remarkably broke Sinner twice more to take the opening set - the first the world No. 2 has conceded down under since his last-16 match win over Holger Rune last year.

Despite Sinner immediately dropping serve in the second, he charged back to level. But Spizzirri was back on the front foot when he took a break advantage for 3-1 in the third - before his momentum came to a crashing halt as a result of the extreme heat in Melbourne.

With temperatures hitting 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit), the Australian Open's Heat Policy was triggered at level five - resulting in the suspension of play, and the roof on Rod Laver Arena was closed as both Spizzirri and Sinner were forced to undergo a break.

Watch as Sinner survives huge scare to progress after cramps in heat

Video credit: TNT Sports

It was a timely pause for Sinner, who was visibly affected by his cramp issues, limping away from the court, while Spizzirri appeared in disbelief.

"What a lifeline for Sinner," commentator Arvind Parmar said, before Simon Reed observed Spizzirri was "not happy".

"And why would he be?" Parmar said. He's got him on the ropes! This is unbelievable!"

The break lasted less than 10 minutes, but Sinner appeared altogether far fresher at the restart. Having previously struggled to push up to serve, the Italian fought back to immediately put the third set back on serve, and from then on, raced away from Spizzirri.

Sinner clinched the set-deciding break for 5-4 after a tense 15-point game in which the American initially saved two break points and, despite dropping his serve for the sixth time in the match in the fourth set, the No. 2 seed battled back with consecutive breaks to ultimately seal 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory.

Speaking on court after the win, Sinner confessed to being "lucky" with the timing of the break.

"He's an incredible player," Sinner said. "He played really, really well. I wish him the best. I'm sure he's going to have a great season.

Highlights: Watch as Sinner survives huge scare in blistering heat against Spizzirri

Video credit: TNT Sports

"I struggled physically, I got lucky with the heat rule. I took my time, and as the time passed, I felt better and better.

"Very happy about this performance. Looking back in every big tournament I've had, there were tough matches, so hopefully this can give me something positive for the next round."

The manner of Sinner's victory drew parallels with his fourth-round win over Rune last year, when he was afforded a break lasting over 20 minutes while struggling physically due to the net breaking.

It was another match Sinner confessed he was "lucky" to have won, and asked in his post-match press conference on Saturday whether he was concerned his luck might run out, he replied: "This I don't know.

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"I'm someone who tries to put tennis in the highest priority. I know that I'm doing that since years now. In the back of my mind I know how much I work. I feel well-prepared even if some problems could happen potentially on the court.

"Of course, there are going to be days where you don't find a way. It's not that everything is going your way. But with a positive mindset, for sure more positive things can happen. If you are in a court thinking in a negative way, most likely more negative things can come towards you.

"I try to stay calm even in a moment like this. If he keeps playing the way he was playing, maybe I was dropping a little bit. Maybe my tournament was over today. I don't know. Honestly, I think that's it."

Spizzirri: 'It was funny timing'

Spizzirri dismissed the idea that Sinner was "saved" by the heat-induced delay, but said it was "funny timing".

"I don't know if he got saved by it," Spizzirri said in his post-match press conference. "I smiled a little bit when the heat rule went into effect, just because it was kind of funny timing as I went up 3-1.

"So whenever that game was over, whether I broke or whether he held, we were going to close the roof. It was just funny that right when I broke and he was wobbling, that it happened to happen that way. But at the same time, that's the rules of the game, and, you know, you've got to live with it.

"But yeah, if I had won that third set, we were going to have a 10-minute break anyways because of how hot it was, even if the roof didn't close. So who knows?

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"We've seen him do this before where there's an extended break, and he gathers himself and comes out and figures it out. He did it against maybe Holger Rune one time, if I'm not mistaken, at this tournament.

"Yeah, I wouldn't say he got saved by it. He's too good of a player to say that, but at the same time, you know, it was, you know, challenging timing, and that's just the nature of the sport."

While acknowledging the heat rule is in place to protect players, Spizzirri said he had played in "way worse conditions" during his time at the University of Texas, but concluded his performance was "definitely encouraging" and that he would "hopefully learn a lot" from the defeat.

Sinner will face compatriot Luciano Darderi for a spot in the quarter-finals.

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