Jannik Sinner ended Richard Gasquet’s tennis career on Thursday at Roland Garros. The Italian world number one defeated the French tennis veteran in three sets and reached the third round of the Grand Slam tournament.
The 38-year-old Gasquet had announced before the start of Roland Garros that this would be his last hurrah. The Frenchman debuted in 2002 on the gravel in Paris and participated a total of 22 times. The quarter-final spot in 2016 was his best performance.
Gasquet was also a familiar face at the other Grand Slam tournaments for decades. He reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon twice and once in the semi-finals of the US Open. At his peak, Gasquet was number seven in the world.
In recent years, age logically took hold of his body, causing Gasquet to fall back to 166th place in the world rankings. He was therefore no match for Sinner, who stepped off Court Philippe-Chatrier as the winner in less than two hours: 6-3, 6-0 and 6-4.
The 23-year-old Sinner will face Czech Jiri Lehecka (ATP-34) in the third round. Novak Djokovic will be in action later in the day in the second round of Roland Garros. The Serbian plays against the Frenchman Corentin Moutet.