First came the medical timeouts, one each for Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune with the temperature above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) at the Australian Open.

Then came the bizarre sight of a 20-minute delay because the net at Rod Laver Arena detached from the court after being hit by a big Sinner serve.

In the end, the breaks in action were “lucky,” Sinner said, because they gave him a chance to catch his breath, put his struggles aside and emerge with the victory — as he keeps doing, no matter the site or the circumstances. The defending champion moved into the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park on Monday by eliminating the 13th-seeded Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I don’t want to talk so much (about) how I felt today. I was not feeling really well. I think we saw that today. I was struggling physically,” Sinner said, declining to say exactly what was wrong. “Playing against a tough opponent, but also playing against myself a little bit.”

The No. 1-ranked Sinner occasionally tried to cool off by pressing a cold towel to his face or pouring water down the back of his neck. He was far better down the stretch, both after a 10-minute-plus delay in the third set when he went to the locker room for medical attention and after a 20-minute holdup in the fourth when the screw connecting the net to the blue playing surface came undone.

“It was a bit helpful. I at least felt slightly better when I went back on court,” Sinner said about seeing a doctor.

He’s won 18 consecutive tour-level matches, dating back to late 2024. Last season, Sinner went 73-6 with eight titles, the first man with that many tournament championships in a single year since Andy Murray in 2016.

In the women’s fourth round, 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys eliminated 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and now plays Elina Svitolina, a 6-4, 6-1 winner against Veronika Kudermetova. Five-time major champion Iga Swiatek had — no surprise here — an easy time beating “lucky loser” Eva Lys 6-1, 6-0 and will face No. 8 Emma Navarro next.

Sinner will play No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia, who defeated unseeded Alex Michelsen of the U.S. 6-0, 7-6 (5), 6-3. A second Italian joined Sinner in the quarterfinals when 55th-ranked Lorenzo Sonego got that far at a major tournament for the first time by ending the run of American qualifier Learner Tien 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

Sonego will go up against No. 21 Ben Shelton, who advanced when 38-year-old Gael Monfils of France quit because of an injury early in the fourth set.

Men’s basketball

Auburn a unanimous No. 1 >> A wild week of upsets and court stormings led to a massive shakeup in the AP Top 25. One constant: Auburn.

The Tigers were the unanimous pick at No. 1 in The Associated Press poll, holding on to the top spot following a week in which 19 ranked teams lost at least once — including seven teams in the top 10.

Auburn claimed the program’s second No. 1 ranking last week and won both its games despite playing without injured big man Johni Broome. No. 2 Duke moved up a spot after winning both of its games last week and swapped places with No. 3 Iowa State. Alabama and Florida rounded out the top five despite each losing a game last week.

Only three teams — Alabama, Florida and No. 6 Tennessee — held the same spot from a week ago.

Women’s basketball

UCLA No. 1 but South Carolina gains ground >> South Carolina has so far cruised through the difficult part of its conference schedule and remained No. 2 in The AP Top 25, picking up a first-place vote to gain a bit of ground on top-ranked UCLA.

The Gamecocks are in the midst of a five-game stretch against ranked opponents. So far they’ve beaten Texas by 17, Alabama by 18 and Oklahoma by 41 on Sunday. They face No. 5 LSU on Thursday and No. 17 Tennessee on Jan. 27.

UCLA received 27 first-place ballots this week while No. 3 Notre Dame got the other two. USC remained No. 4.

After LSU were UConn, Texas and Maryland and TCU and Kansas State moved up to ninth and 10th, respectively, after losses by Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Motorsports

Hamilton arrives for 1st day at Ferrari >> Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton arrived at Ferrari’s headquarters to get down to work with his new team.

First up was a short visit to the Fiorano track followed by a meeting with Piero Ferrari and then “a day-long total immersion program,” the team said.

“There are some days that you know you’ll remember forever and today, my first as a Scuderia Ferrari HP driver, is one of those days,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realize that dream today.”

The 40-year-old Hamilton announced last year that he was leaving Mercedes for Ferrari.