Sinner thrashes retiring Gasquet at French Open, Djokovic, Gauff through
Jannik Sinner ended the retiring Richard Gasquet's career with a one-sided victory at the French Open on Thursday, while Novak Djokovic successfully continued his Grand Slam record bid at Roland Garros.
Women's second seed and former finalist Coco Gauff booked a place in the last 32, after 18-year-old contender Mirra Andreeva cruised through.
World number one Sinner had no trouble in seeing off the 38-year-old Gasquet, playing at the tournament for the 22nd and final time, 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 in under two hours.
Sinner made his comeback from a three-month doping ban at the Italian Open earlier in May, reaching the final before losing in straight sets to reigning Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz.
He was in fine form against Gasquet, saving three break points to serve out the first set before dominating the rest of the match on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"Thank you for being very fair with me today, I know what was at stake... It's your (Gasquet's) moment. Congrats on an amazing career," Sinner told the crowd after setting up a third-round meeting with Czech Jiri Lehecka.
Djokovic continued his bid for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title by downing Frenchman Corentin Moutet in straight sets, despite needing a medical time-out to treat a blister on his foot.
The 38-year-old, who became just the third man to win 100 ATP titles last week in Geneva, eventually put away an obdurate Moutet, winning 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1).
The Serb will next play Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic, as he edges closer to a possible quarter-final clash with Alexander Zverev.
"I think in general I played well," Djokovic said after an impressive display against an awkward opponent who missed a set point in the third.
"I came to Roland Garros with more confidence, good feelings... Hopefully I can continue like that."
- Zverev, Fils progress -
Third seed Zverev bounced back from losing the first set in a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over Dutchman Jesper de Jong.
The German, who lost last year's final to Alcaraz in five sets, will next face Italian Flavio Cobolli on Saturday for a last-16 berth.
Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur's run of reaching four consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals was ended as he blew a two-set lead to lose 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to Alexander Bublik.
Czech teenager Jakub Mensik, the Miami Open champion, also suffered a collapse from two sets up in a 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 defeat by Grand Slam debutant Henrique Rocha of Portugal.
Home hope Arthur Fils narrowly avoided suffering a similar fate though.
The 14th seed fought back from a break down in the deciding set to grab a dramatic 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 0-6, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Jaume Munar on a raucous Court Suzanne Lenglen despite battling a back injury.
Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca reached the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time with a straight-sets win against French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The 18-year-old will next face British fifth seed Jack Draper, who beat Gael Monfils in four sets in a gripping night session match.
- Gauff, Andreeva through -
Gauff struggled with her serve but did enough to claim a 6-2, 6-4 win over 2024 French Open girls' champion Tereza Valentova.
She only managed one hold of serve in a scrappy second set but broke her 18-year-old Czech opponent eight times in the match to secure a third-round meeting with Marie Bouzkova.
The American is targeting a first title since last year's WTA Finals, having come up just short in Madrid and Rome.
"I could have been more aggressive on serve but the return game was good," Gauff said.
Sixth seed Andreeva, who had an impressive run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, brushed side American Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-4.
Andreeva is playing her first Grand Slam as a top-10 seed after capturing WTA 1000 series titles in Dubai and Indian Wells.
"I'm just happy that I stayed calm during the match, and I'm happy that I overcame some little difficulties throughout the match," said the Russian.
Third seed Jessica Pegula beat fellow American Ann Li 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) and will face former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova in the third round.
Madison Keys, who won her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, saw off Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-3.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was knocked out, though, dispatched 6-0, 6-3 by Russian Veronika Kudermetova.
jc/mw
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jessica Pegula rallies into 4th round at French Open, beating Wimbledon winner
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Jessica Pegula has reached the fourth round of the French Open for the second time in her career. Pegula, the No. 3 seed in the season's second Grand Slam tennis tournament, won her third match at Roland Garros on Saturday, coming back to defeat 2019 French Open finalist and 2023 Wimbledon champion Markéta Vondroušová from the Czech Republic in three sets (3-6, 6-4, 6-2). Advertisement The 31-year-old Buffalonian whose parent own the Bills and Sabres will face Lois Boisson from France on Monday for a spot in the quarterfinals. This is the furthest Pegula has advanced at the French Open since she was a quarterfinalist in 2022. She reached the third round in 2023 and withdrew from the tournament last year due to a neck injury. Pegula has won WTA events in Austin and Charleston this season, and reached the third round at the Australian Open. Last season she was a U.S. Open finalist, but lost in the second round of the other major tournaments she played in. Jessica Pegula wins Charleston Open, rising to No. 3 in world Advertisement *** Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Cameron Norrie overcomes Jacob Fearnley to reach second week of French Open
Cameron Norrie reached the French Open fourth round with a bang after beating fellow British star Jacob Fearnley. Norrie secured a likely showdown with Novak Djokovic after a straight-sets win in a surreal match played out to an ear-splitting backdrop of explosions and pyrotechnics. Advertisement The din was down to thousands of Paris St Germain fans gathering for the Champions League final outside the Parc des Princes, which is a stone's throw from Court Simonne-Mathieu and was showing the game on a big screen. But Fearnley struggled to produce any fireworks as the more experienced Norrie extended his stay in the French capital into the second week. It will be Norrie's first appearance at this stage and, with Jack Draper already through, Britain has two men in the fourth round for the first time in French Open history. Tennis players usually like to play in silence but this end of Paris sounded more like a war zone. Advertisement Serving was proving difficult for both men with explosions going off almost every time one of them tossed the ball. At one point during a crucial second-set tie-break, Norrie had to abort his service motion completely amid a series of loud bangs. Jacob Fearnley was beaten in straight sets (Lindsey Wasson/AP) Fearnley may have overtaken Norrie in the world rankings, but the 23-year-old made a nervous start amid the deafening noise. Norrie was a set and two breaks up before Fearnley, who has only just completed a first full year on the Tour, found his feet and levelled the second set. But despite the disruption, 29-year-old Norrie held his nerve in the tie-break to move two sets up. The noise finally subsided, and the crowd shrunk considerably, as kick-off approached leaving Norrie to complete a 6-3 7-6 (1) 6-2 victory in two hours and 43 minutes.
an hour ago
French Open 2025: Coco Gauff emerges from a tough second set to return to Week 2 in Paris
PARIS -- PARIS (AP) — Coco Gauff got off to a terrific start in the French Open's third round Saturday, taking 12 of the first 15 points for a 3-0 lead after just 10 minutes. The rest of the opening set went smoothly, too. Things got much tougher from there, and the 2023 U.S. Open champion was merely two points from dropping the second set, before getting back in the right direction and defeating Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 7-6 (3) to reach Week 2 at Roland-Garros for the fifth consecutive year. Gauff, a 21-year-old from Florida, was the runner-up in Paris in 2022 and is seeded No. 2 at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament this year. Next up for her will be a matchup on Monday against No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova, with the winner moving into the quarterfinals. After needing just a half-hour to claim the first set Saturday, Gauff wound up in a 75-minute struggle in the second. That set included eight breaks of serve in a row as the sounds of popping fireworks drifted over to Court Philippe-Chatrier from the nearby soccer stadium belonging to Paris Saint-Germain, whose fans were gathering to attend a watch party ahead of the Champions League final against Italy's Inter Milan in Munich, Germany, later Saturday night. The key in the second was when Gauff trailed 5-3, 30-love with Bouzkova serving. A total of four times, Bouzkova needed to string together two consecutive points to force a third set. But Gauff wouldn't allow it, frequently stretching points with her terrific court coverage until she could find space to hit a winner. On one particularly memorable exchange, Gauff sprinted to barely reach a drop shot, scrambled into position to block back a volley, then leaped for an overhead smash. By the end, Gauff had more than twice as many winners as Bouzkova in the second set, 22 to 11, and also helped herself by winning the point on 11 of her 14 trips to the net. Gauff is one of five American women in the fourth round. The others are No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 7 Madison Keys, No. 16 Amanda Anisimova and unseeded Hailey Baptiste. There were three U.S. men still in the bracket heading into Sunday. Keys, who won the Australian Open in January, saved three match points while down 5-4 in the final set and came back to beat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Keys now plays the 70th-ranked Baptiste. last year's U.S. Open runner-up — faces French wild-card entry Lois Boisson.
