(VIDEO) Spizzirri in sportsmanship gesture amid Sinner controversy with chair umpire

The clash between Jannik Sinner and Eliot Spizzirri is stealing the spotlight this Saturday, January 24, in their third-round match. The American has been the big surprise so far, taking the opening set — and also producing a great sportsmanship moment during the second set.

The World No. 85 arrived as a complete unknown to this edition of the tournament, which marks his main-draw debut at the Australian Open. In the first round, he was drawn against 28th seed Joao Fonseca and caused a major upset, eliminating the Brazilian in four sets (6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–2). That was followed by another victory against Yibing Wu in five sets, securing his first-ever appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam, as well as a significant jump in the rankings up to World No. 70.

Perhaps the biggest reward for a player who usually competes on the Challenger Tour is facing the two-time defending champion Jannik Sinner in the third round, inside a packed Rod Laver Arena. Even better for the American is the impressive performance he has delivered so far, putting the World No. 2 under real pressure.

It seemed like a normal day at the office for the Italian, who grabbed the first break of the match and confidently moved ahead to 4–2. Up to that point, Spizzirri had shown a high level on serve and managed to keep pace with Sinner in the rallies, even though the overall control of the match belonged to the Italian.

However, the surprise came when Sinner became irregular in the latter part of the set. Spizzirri won 16 of the next 18 points, securing two consecutive breaks to claim the set 6–4 in stunning fashion. It was four games in a row for the American, which also marked the end of Sinner’s streak of 27 consecutive sets won. The last time the Italian had dropped a set was back in October 2025, in the Vienna Open final against Alexander Zverev — a match Sinner still went on to win 3–6, 6–3, 7–5.

At the start of the second set, the American showed his class following a small controversy involving the chair umpire and Jannik Sinner. After a couple of exchanged breaks early in the set, the Italian was serving at 1–1, 40–15, when the umpire issued a time violation warning for exceeding the allowed time on serve.

Sinner argued that he was not ready within the time limit because spectators were still making noise while speaking. The four-time major champion approached the umpire to continue his complaint, and Spizzirri then stepped in, asking the umpire to remove the time violation from his opponent, as he himself was also not ready to receive due to the same crowd-related disturbances.

In the end, Sinner managed to hold serve and take the lead, immediately securing a second consecutive break afterward. The American fought hard, but it was not enough to complete the comeback, and Sinner eventually took the second set, keeping the question alive of just how much more Spizzirri can do. After two sets played, he has clearly shown that he can become a serious problem for Sinner.