(Melbourne) Double title holder Jannik Sinner had to overcome heat and cramps to overcome American Eliot Spizzirri (85) on Saturday^e) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and thus qualify for the round of 16 of the Australian Open.

“I had cramps first in my legs, then in my arm, then everywhere,” Sinner admitted.

“But tennis is a mental game. Even without being able to be at my best, I played as well as I could,” he added.

“If I want to go far here like the rest of the season, I have to play [bien] when it’s hot,” he insisted.

In search of a seventh Grand Slam title, the Italian will face his compatriot Luciano Darderi (25^e) to try to get back to the quarter-finals in Melbourne.