Jannik Sinner eases through as Richard Gasquet says adieu
Alex De Minaur was a surprise casualty elsewhere in the French Open men’s singles.
World number one Jannik Sinner cruised into the third round of the French Open and ended Richard Gasquet’s career for good measure.
Veteran Frenchman Gasquet had announced he would retire after his 22nd Roland Garros campaign, and would have needed to pull off a major shock to prolong his last tournament.
There was to be no fairy tale in Paris for the 38-year-old, who bowed out with one final flourish of that inimitable one-handed backhand in a 6-3 6-0 6-4 defeat.
Sinner is bidding for the second part of a potential calendar-year grand slam and to become the first Italian men’s champion since 1976.
But the 23-year-old knew this was Gasquet’s day, and said: “Congrats for everything you have done, an amazing career, but most importantly an amazing person.”
Gasquet, a two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist who made his debut on the ATP Tour in 2002, said: “It’s a little strange, because there is no stress tomorrow.
“There is no recovery. There is no training. There is no lawn tennis. So this is the most astonishing thing. I’ve got my mind just telling me that I’ve got to recover and rest.
“But I’m very calm about the decision to stop, and I’m very happy to stop today on this court against the number one in the world, the stadium, the court was full. It was good weather. I’m very happy.”
Novak Djokovic returned to the scene of some bad memories, having been bumped down to Court Suzanne-Lenglen to face Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
It was the court upon which he lost to Dominic Thiem in 2017 and, even more shockingly, against unheralded Italian Marco Cecchinato a year later.
But he had no such problems with Moutet – despite needing a medical time-out for a problem with his left foot – in a 6-3 6-2 7-6 (1) victory.
There was a surprise in the men’s draw when Alex De Minaur, the Australian ninth seed, blew a two-set lead to lose to Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 2-6 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
“I think I lost that one,” said the 26-year-old. “This is a match I win 99.9 per cent of the time. Today was just the odd occasion that it slipped away.”
Third seed Alexander Zverev, last year’s runner-up, dropped the first set against Dutchman Jesper De Jong but hit back to win 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-3.
French 14th seed Arthur Fils came through a dramatic four-and-a-half-hour marathon against Spain’s Jaume Munar.
The 20-year-old needed treatment for a back injury during the third set and could barely move in the fourth, but the painkillers kicked in just in time for him to complete a 7-6 (3) 7-6 (4) 2-6 0-6 6-4 win.
Fils will play Russian Andrey Rublev on Saturday, hoping they will not be scheduled as the night match because the Paris St Germain fan wants to watch the Champions League final.
“I don’t know what Rublev will ask. Maybe he’ll asked to play the night session just to bother me,” said Fils.
