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Jannik Sinner's struggles were laid bare as he was handed an Australian Open reprieve during his third round win over Eliot Spizzirri. Tournament organisers suspended play on all outdoor courts on Saturday after temperatures climbed to 38 degrees celcius in Melbourne as the world number two struggled against the American.

The 24-year-old held off the challenge of the world number 85 to battle back from a set down to win 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 to book his place in the fourth round, where he will play fellow Italian Luciano Darderi. However, Sinner couldn't hide his difficulty in the sweltering heat as he was shown sheltering in the shade, stretching, and heard saying: "I don't know what to do. I'm f****d," before play was suspended with Sinner trailing 3-1 in the third set. Spizzirri couldn't believe his luck with the four-time Grand Slam winner on the ropes, looking visibly frustrated as they were taken off court in order to let the roof close.

The heat rule was applied on all outdoor courts and the decision comes when the heat scale hits a maximum of five. The scale measures four factors; radiant heat, air temperature in the shade, relative humidity and wind speed, if the rules are implemented, matches stop at the end of an even game in order for the roof to be closed and allow the air circulation to cool down on the court.

The temperature dropped to around 26C during the fourth set of Sinner's win, with the Italian looking more comfortable as he found his groove to beat Spizzirri. Tournament organisers brought the play forward by half an hour on Saturday in anticipation of the heat hitting the Australian Open.

Speaking after booking his place in the last-16, Sinner said: "I struggled physically a bit today. We saw this.

"I got lucky with the heat rule, they closed the roof. I took my time, and as the time passed, I felt better and better, and very happy about this performance.

"Looking back, in every big tournament, I've had some really tough matches. Hopefully this can give me some positives for the next round, starting with a good mentality again, and then we see what's coming. But I'm really, really happy. Thanks for the support, it helped me a lot today, thank you.

"[I struggled with] many things. It started with the leg, then it got into the arm, so I was cramping a bit all over. This is sport, I know this is an area where I need to improve, which is a positive thing. We try to work every day, I have a great team behind me, pushing me."