Jannik Sinner received a controversial medical time-out during his Italian Open semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev.
During the time-out, Sinner appeared to receive treatment for cramps, something the rules forbid.
Originally unhappy with the Italian, Medvedev later proposed a rule change that would solve the problem.
Was Jannik Sinner wrong to call a medical time-out?
Daniil Medvedev wasn't happy!
Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Sam Querrey has now delivered his verdict on the medical time-out rule.
Sam Querrey doesn’t think there is a ‘good solution’ for the medical time-out/cramping controversy
During the latest episode of ‘Nothing Major‘, Querrey shared his thoughts on Sinner’s semi-final win over Medvedev.
“It feels to me that outside of Carlos [Alcaraz], [Daniil] Medvedev is the only guy who has kind of been close [to beating Jannik Sinner],” he said.
“It was at Indian Wells where I believe it was 7-6, 7-6 in an absolute battle. You feel like Medvedev could have won a breaker if it goes long. Then, here they have that battle of a match, it gets called for a rain delay.”
- 2026 Italian Open SF – Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
- 2026 Indian Wells F – Jannik Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev, 7-6, 7-6
“Jannik had the trainer out for the cramps. We have got to find a rule in tennis here.
“This cramping and bring the trainer out thing, we have no idea what we are doing!
“You are not allowed to get treated for cramps.
“I thought that was a rule. But it does seem like maybe you can get treated for cramps on changeovers.”
Querrey’s co-host, Steve Johnson, was keen to explain the rule.
“You can get treated for cramps on changeovers. You get two or three, where it’s 60 seconds when you sit down, but you don’t get an actual medical time-out and that evaluation plus the three minutes of treatment for cramping,” he said.
“That is not allowed.”
Querrey continued, discussing both the cramping controversy and the rain delay that overshadowed Sinner’s semi-final win.
“Just so everyone knows, that match late in the third set, he started to feel some cramps, the trainer came out, and he was treating the cramps, and then the rain came,” said Querrey.
“And then for the people, just the conspiracy people out there, when the rain came and they called the match a lot of times what happens is that if rain is coming at 11 pm they will look at the forecast and if it shows more rain coming at midnight, 1 am or 2 am, they will cancel the match because they don’t want to keep players there for three hours.
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Rain postponed Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev's Italian Open semi-final…
“If there is no rain coming, they will be like, ‘Look, we think the rain is going to end in 30 minutes, we are going to keep you here.’
“I know people are like ‘Of course they saw rain and cancelled it for Sinner,’ but that is not the case here.
“Going back to the cramping, it’s almost like everyone needs to be okay with you can get treated for cramps on changeovers.
“And just changeovers.
“Because you can also fake it if you are cramping, you can say I have a sharp pain in my quad, and they can start rubbing the area and fix it.
“I honestly don’t think there is a good solution for it.”
Johnson agreed with Querrey, highlighting the biggest issue with the rule.
“There isn’t a good solution,” he said.
“It’s up to the trainers if they can tell it’s cramping.
“It’s hard because you can’t just tell it’s cramp. It’s hard; you can kind of fake it.
“It’s tricky, that’s why they put that rule in a decade ago, and it’s still getting tinkered.”
As Querrey and Johnson rightly pointed out, it’s very difficult for physios to determine whether a player is ‘faking’ another injury to receive treatment for cramps.
The only realistic solution would surely be to allow treatment for cramps during medical time-outs, as Medvedev suggested post-match.
Only time will tell if the ATP Tour decides to ‘tinker’ with the rule again, but it will certainly be something to keep an eye on over the coming weeks and months.
What can Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev achieve at Roland Garros?
Putting the Italian Open controversy behind them, Sinner and Medvedev will now turn their attention to the second Grand Slam of the year, Roland Garros.
Who will win this year’s French Open?
The second Slam of the year…
Sinner is the clear favourite to win Roland Garros, especially with his closest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, missing the event due to injury.
Medvedev, on the other hand, has never been past the quarter-finals in Paris, but if he plays as well as he did in Rome, who knows what he could achieve?
It remains to be seen who will emerge victorious in the French capital…
The 2026 French Open begins on Sunday, May 24.
