There was no shortage of drama and talking points during the rain-interrupted Italian Open semi-final between Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner.
Sinner, clearly struggling with his movement late on Friday evening, requested a medical time-out early in the third set.
Medvedev took issue with the decision, arguing to the chair umpire that Sinner was receiving treatment for cramps – which is not permitted under current rules.
After losing to Sinner when play continued on Saturday, Medvedev offered his own idea for how to address the issue of medical time-outs.
Medvedev backs allowing medical times-outs for Cramps
Speaking after the match, Medvedev offered a straightforward fix to the issue.
“Actually, first I wanted to say impossible to sell, but I actually have a solution: allow physical, allow medical treatment for help,” said Medvedev.
“Sorry. Allow medical, meaning physio, three minutes when you have cramps.
“Then there’s no problem because then a player could say, I have cramps. I need a physio.
“For the moment, it’s not allowed.
“I completely understand.”
Sinner got treatment on Friday and returned on Saturday without any obvious signs of struggle before closing out the match. The whole thing was more about the rules than about Sinner himself.
The idea isn’t far off from what already happens in practice. Players often use time-outs for cramping anyway, and it’s difficult for officials to clamp down on it because players can just say they’re dealing with something else physically.
Daniil Medvedev was asked if ATP locker room discussions mention Jannik Sinner’s physical challenges
The medical time-out debate ended up overshadowing another instance of Sinner’s physical issues becoming apparent.
Back in January, the Italian had a tough time dealing with the heat during the Australian Open, and even though he’s been unbeaten since February, fitness remains his biggest question mark.
During Medvedev’s press conference, he was asked if players discuss Sinner’s fitness behind closed doors.
“No, definitely not talking about this in the locker room because we try, I think, not to discuss, like, tennis,” said Medvedev. “When I say ‘tennis in the locker room’, meaning we don’t look at a match and say: ‘Look at his backhand, it’s so bad. Everyone should go there’. At least I didn’t discuss this with anyone.”
Medvedev went on to point out that playing against Sinner is physically demanding for anyone on tour.
Medvedev has lost five straight matches against Sinner
Sinner has found a way to consistently get the better of Medvedev in recent meetings.
It’s a sharp turnaround, considering Medvedev dominated their early encounters, winning the first six.
Whether Medvedev can shift the momentum back in his favour remains to be seen, but their matchups continue to draw plenty of interest.
Their next meeting could come as soon as Roland Garros, with the tournament set to start on May 24th.
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