Jannik Sinner admitted to being ‘lucky’ after scrapping through his third round match with Eliot Spizzirri at the Australian Open.
Sinner defeated Spizzirri in Melbourne after benefitting from a heat rule which saw the closure of the roof on the Rod Laver Arena.
Before that, the world number two was massively struggling with the conditions against the American and even looked in danger of exiting the Grand Slam.
Fans, pundits, and even Sinner himself have claimed he was fortunate, and now Tim Henman has claimed the Italian has received another bit of good fortune.
Tim Henman says Jannik Sinner has been given a ‘favourable schedule’
Sinner has, unusually, been scheduled to play the night session on Margaret Court for his fourth round match against Luciano Darderi.
The Italian has not yet played anywhere but the Australian Open’s main court, and Henman believes he’s been lucky to be given a cooler time slot.
Carlos Alcaraz WILL complete the Career Grand Slam before Jannik Sinner – discuss…
Speaking on TNT Sports, Henman said: “Look, players and coaches, they can put in requests. It’s very difficult at this stage of the tournament, maybe the last 16 when you’ve got everyone saying ‘I want to play here, I don’t want to play there’.
“But, at the end of the day, it comes down to the referee and tournament director Craig Tiley to make that decision.
“They have accommodated Sinner so I think he’s lucky, he was lucky with the roof being closed when he was cramping, and he’s got a very favourable schedule there.”
The winner of Sinner vs Darderi will play the winner of Ben Shelton’s clash with Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.
Jamie Murray says Jannik Sinner absolutely requested to play on Margaret Court
Jamie Murray, meanwhile, said that it was clear Sinner and his team had asked Australian Open organisers for a night session.
Speaking alongside Henman, Murray said he was “Surprised” by the decision, but understood why it had happened.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
“I think they didn’t want him playing in the day, him and his team didn’t want him playing in the day,” said the Scot.
“He’s requested to play at night and he also wouldn’t have wanted to play the second night match because who knows when he might finish, so I think he was trying to have his cake and eat it and so he’s on Margaret Court.”
Madison Keys vs Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz vs Lorenzo Musetti have been chosen for the day session on Rod Laver on 25 January.
