Roland Garros: Sinner beats Gasquet in his last match of his career
Jannik Sinner continues his run to Roland Garros 2025 without a hitch. He lands with authority in the third round after defeating home favorite Richard Gasquet with a score of 6-3 6-0 6-4. A clear-cut victory, achieved in less than two hours of play, marking the end of an era: in fact, the match represented the last career appearance for the Frenchman, who bid farewell to the Philippe Chatrier audience by receiving a long and well-deserved tribute. Visibly emotional and moved by his last professional match. As best ranking he boasts the seventh position in the world, with 18 total titles on the tour (16 in singles and 2 in doubles).
The South Tyrolean, world No. 1, handled the match with the maturity and lucidity that now distinguishes him in Slam tournaments. After a more complicated start in the first round against Rinderknech, Sinner immediately made his intentions clear against Gasquet. He found the break in the fourth game of the first set and resisted the Frenchman’s comeback attempts in the deciding game, closing 6-3. The second set was a blue monologue: three breaks and no balls conceded, with a dry 6-0 win that left little room for emotion.
In the third partial, Gasquet tried to honor the last game of his career to the end, staying in the slipstream until 4-4. But in the ninth game Sinner found the decisive breakthrough, snatching service from the Frenchman and successfully serving for the match. An oversized forehand from Gasquet ended the challenge and symbolically his career, which closed to the applause of a packed stadium.
Sinner, on his 16th consecutive Slam success (undefeated since Wimbledon in 2024 against Medvedev), will now face Czech Jiri Lehecka, who overcame Davidovich Fokina in four sets. But today, in addition to the Italian’s victory, the farewell to tennis of Richard Gasquet, one of the last pure interpreters of the one-handed backhand, which enchanted the world’s audiences for two decades, remains in the memory.
