LONDON — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner got his Wimbledon “warmup” out of the way by beating Cam Norrie 6-3, 6-3 in an exhibition match amid a heat wave.
It came just under a month after the Italian star struggled with dizziness in a stunning second-round loss at the French Open.
Sinner, preparing to defend his Wimbledon title, took part in the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic with southern England under a “red warning ” for extreme heat issued by Britain’s national weather service.
“As Cam said, a very hot day,” Sinner said in an on-court interview. “Exhibition matches, they are good because we try out a couple of things and hopefully be as good as we can then for the next week.”
The interviewer asked him what he was trying out. “I don’t know,” a smiling Sinner responded.
Sinner wore a cooling vest during practice at the All England Club. During the match against Norrie, he didn’t use ice packs like in the past.
The early afternoon temperature in Fulham, where the grass-court event was held, was 91.4 F with a slight breeze.
In Paris, he was ahead by two sets and 5-1 in the third before losing to Juan Manuel Cerundolo 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1. The temperature on Court Philippe-Chatrier rose to 90 F during the match, and Sinner clearly was having a tough time cooling himself down as he reached for multiple ice bags.
Sinner, who has a history of problems with heat and cramps, didn’t blame the heat entirely after the loss. “I think many things together caused this problem. I just need my time now to process what went wrong here,” he said.
At the grass-court major a year ago, Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the final for his first Wimbledon title. Alcaraz will miss this year’s tournament because of a wrist injury.
The U.K.'s weather service said in its warning to “keep out of the sun and avoid any exercise between 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. when the sun is strongest.”
It said the region could see “a two to three-day period where maximum temperatures in the shade exceed (98.6 F), perhaps rising to (100.4 F) to (104 F) Celsius in some places. The heat will be accompanied by high humidity, exacerbating the potential for discomfort and health impacts, with very warm and humid night times also reducing the ability for people to recover overnight.”
The temperature at the start of Wimbledon is expected to be 75 F.
