Two weeks after Jannik Sinner’s shock second-round collapse at Roland Garros, eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi delivered a critical verdict. “There’s no excuse for him to run into a wall at one hour, 45 minutes,” Agassi said of how Sinner battled with the Paris heat. And Andy Roddick, for one, had no reservations about where he stood.

“Is it unfair to say that under any circumstances you should be able to get through an hour and 40 minutes? Yeah, I think that’s fair criticism. I think Jannik would tell you that was fair criticism,” Roddick said on the latest episode of the Served Podcast.

The former world No. 1 was not piling on. He was making a distinction that much of the commentary around the Cerundolo match had failed to make. What gave Agassi’s words their particular authority, in Roddick’s view, was not fame but being in the exact position that Sinner is now.

“Andre understands what it is to prepare and to be the guy and to have eyeballs on you and all that. And he doesn’t need a job, therefore he can actually just say it,” he added. 

Roddick’s defense is made especially interesting by the detail he shared regarding the 56-year-old’s actions before the public announcement. Agassi and Cahill have a long history, as the latter coached him for half a decade, from 2002 to 2006. Hence, Agassi decided to inform Darren Cahill before catching Sinner’s coach off guard.

“He said that he actually talked to Darren first because there’s a complexity there. You don’t share that amount of time with a coach and then blindside them. Like you just don’t do that,” Roddick explained. 

Sinner was the overwhelming favorite entering Paris, having won back-to-back titles at Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome. He was two sets up and leading 5-2 in the third set against world No. 56 Juan Manuel Cerundolo before his body gave out entirely, before the Argentine made a comeback of his dreams and won the final three sets 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 on a sweltering afternoon at Philippe Chatrier.

While the speed of the collapse was jarring, it was not the first time for Sinner.

Jannik Sinner’s persistent heat problems: Agassi and Roddick give solutions 

At the Australian Open earlier this year, Sinner was in physical difficulty against Eliot Spizzirri in the third round before the roof was closed due to soaring temperatures. Even though he regrouped and eventually won in four sets, Roddick admitted the trend outright.

“I think he was done in that match if he doesn’t get the benefit of the rule,” Roddick stated.

However, the argument is not that Sinner is unfit. As both Agassi and Roddick explained, fitness and heat training are two completely different things, and a weakness that has been a frequent occurrence at the highest level at the same time.

Andy Roddick pointed to concrete solutions. Fighters in the UFC routinely go to special labs to be tested for perspiration and hydration. While Agassi suggested that Sinner might need to seek advice “ to figure out what to change,” and pointed out that “some form of hydration issue” could be the likely culprit. 

Carlos Alcaraz had suffered from a similar full-body cramping at the French Open in 2023; he had been able to figure it out and treat it systematically. The precedent exists. The deadline to move on is short, and the suspense will be keen to see how Sinner reacts as Wimbledon is three weeks away.