Sinner ends Gasquet's career with crushing win

PARIS: World number one Jannik Sinner eased into the third round at Roland Garros on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 over Richard Gasquet in the final match of the Frenchman’s career.

Reigning US and Australian Open champion Sinner is on a 16-match winning run at Grand Slams and is attempting to become the first Italian man to win the French Open since 1976.

He will face 34th-ranked Czech Jiri Lehecka for a place in the last 16. Lehecka knocked out Spanish 26th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Sinner broke for a 3-1 lead and then fought off three break points to serve out for a one-set lead against Gasquet, playing in his 22nd and final French Open.

The 23-year-old top seed ran away with the second set against an opponent who turns 39 next month and made his Roland Garros debut in 2002, when Sinner was just months old.

Gasquet’s 610 match wins are the most by a Frenchman in the Open era and huge cheers greeted him on Court Philippe Chatrier as he held serve to start the third set to end a seven-game skid.

He put up more resistance as he fought valiantly to prolong his final tournament appearance but Sinner eventually broke for a 5-4 advantage before sealing victory.

Alexander Bublik produced one of the most remarkable comebacks of Roland-Garros 2025 so far, overturning a two-set deficit to defeat No. 9 seed Alex De Minaur 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 and book his place in the third round.

It’s a disappointing exit for De Minaur, who had enjoyed a strong clay-court season and was looking to at least replicate his quarter-final appearance from last year. He had earlier beaten Laslo Djere in straight sets and started the second-round match in dominant fashion, but failed to respond once Bublik caught fire.

Bublik, ranked No. 62, will next face Portuguese qualifier Henrique Rocha in the third round.

Rocha sent another big-name packing from Roland Garros on Day 5, getting the better of Miami ATP Masters winner Jakub Mensik in five sets. The young Portuguese player, a qualifier ranked 200 in the world and making his Grand Slam main draw debut, also came back from two sets down to win in five sets.

Rocha eventually won 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in over three hours on Court 7.

Third seed Alexander Zverev rallied from one set down to defeat Dutchman Jesper de Jong 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round.

On a day of epic five-setters as three were held within a couple of hours, Arthur Fils overcame an injury to win one of the most dramatic matches in recent years at the French Open on Thursday, when he used the support of a vocal French crowd to overcome Jaume Munar and a back injury in a five-set epic.

The French No. 1 looked in control after winning two tight tie-breaks to move clear before a back injury in the third set seemed set to hamper his hopes. At two sets all, Fils was struggling to move and looked down and out. However, from a breakdown in the decider, he battled through the pain barrier and played with ultra-aggression to earn a thrilling 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 2-6, 0-6, 6-4 win.

After sealing victory on his first match point after four hours and 25 minutes, Fils ripped off his shirt and embraced the raucous cheers from the packed crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The 20-year-old now leads Munar 2-0 in the pair's ATP head-to-head series and holds a 3-1 five-set record at majors.

Into the third round for the first time, Fils will next meet Andrey Rublev, who beat Adam Walton 7-6(1), 6-1, 7-6(5).

In the first five-setter of the day, Alexander Bublik produced a remarkable comeback, overturning a two-set deficit to defeat No. 9 seed Alex De Minaur.

Mirra Andreeva underlined her claycourt credentials again at the French Open when the Russian teenager methodically took apart Ashlyn Krueger, and third seed Jessica Pegula also moved into the third round on Thursday.

Andreeva, a surprise Roland Garros semifinalist in 2024, confirmed her calibre on the sport's slowest surface with runs to the Madrid and Rome quarter-finals this season, and she had to be at her inventive best to beat the powerful Krueger 6-3, 6-4.

Pegula, Krueger's frequent doubles partner this season and French Open third seed, had to battle hard against fellow American Ann Li but found her best level when it mattered to prevail 6-3, 7-6(3) in windy conditions.

Up next for the 2024 US Open runner-up is former Paris finalist Marketa Vondrousova, after the Czech sent 25th seed Magdalena Frech packing 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.

Second seed Coco Gauff battled past Czech teenager Tereza Valentova with a straight-sets win in a scrappy second-round encounter. The American, a Roland Garros runner-up in 2022, wrapped up a 6-2, 6-4 success after only 75 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Gauff, who has made at least the quarterfinals in each of the past four years, was the beneficiary of 33 unforced errors from her 18-year-old opponent.

She will take on another Czech in world number 47 Marie Bouzkova in the last 32.

In other second round matches on Thursday, Joao Fonseca beat Pierre Hugues Herbert 7-6, 7-6, 6-4, Cameron Norrie beat Federico Agustin Gomez 7-6, 6-2, 6-1, Flavio Cobolli beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, Andrey Rublev beat Adam Walton 7-6, 6-1, 7-6,  Tallon Griekspoor beat Gabriel Diallo 7-5, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3.

In women’s section, Markéta Vondroušová beat Magdalena Frech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, Marie Bouzková beat Sonay Kartal 6-1, 6-4, Hailey Baptiste beat Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-2, Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-3, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Robin Montgomery 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, Yulia Putintseva beat  Joanna Garland 7-6, 6-3,  7th seed Madison Keys beat Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-3, Lois Boisson beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-2, 10th seed Paula Badosa beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round.

On the other hand, Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante caused an upset late on Wednesday, stunning former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round at a major for the first time.

This was also a maiden Top 20 scalp captured by Gigante and will result in the Greek star slipping out of the Top 20 for the first time since August 2018 when the latest rankings are updated after the French Open. Agencies

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