PARIS — When Jannik Sinner’s opponent within the French Open’s third spherical lastly gained a single sport Saturday, the Court docket Suzanne-Lenglen crowd responded with a standing ovation. Sinner was just too good on at the present time, extending his Grand Slam successful streak to 17 matches and searching very very like the No. 1-ranked man.
Sinner dominated Jiri Lehecka 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 in simply 1 hour, 34 minutes, the quickest males’s match at Roland-Garros this yr and, measured by video games misplaced, essentially the most lopsided victory at a serious event of Sinner’s profession.
“We attempt to enhance,” Sinner stated. “In the present day, I don’t assume there are numerous issues I can enhance.”
Try a few of the numbers: Sinner delivered 31 winners and made solely 9 unforced errors. He gathered 18 break factors, changing seven, and confronted only one, which he saved.
The primary 11 video games went Sinner’s means. When Sinner missed a return broad, making the rating 6-0, 5-1 after 55 minutes of motion, Lehecka raised his arm and pumped his fist in a little bit of sarcastic celebration. The followers went wild, rising out of their seats and clapping and shouting, eliciting a smile from Lehecka.
Make no mistake, although. Lehecka isn’t any also-ran. The 23-year-old from the Czech Republic is ranked thirty fourth and has been a Grand Slam quarterfinalist.
However he was utterly overmatched by Sinner, who has gained the previous two main championships — on the U.S. Open in September and the Australian Open in January — and is now the proprietor of an unbeaten run on the sport’s most vital tournaments that is been surpassed this century solely by a trio of fellows by the names of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Sinner’s bid for a primary French Open title, and fourth Slam trophy total, will proceed Monday, when he’ll face No. 17 Andrey Rublev for a quarterfinal berth. Rublev superior when his opponent, No. 14 Arthur Fils, withdrew from the event as a result of a stress fracture in his decrease again.
What else occurred on the French Open on Saturday?
Jessica Pegula, the No. 3-seeded American who was the runner-up on the U.S. Open, got here again to eradicate 2019 French Open finalist and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and attain the fourth spherical. No. 6 Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old Russian who reached the semifinals a yr in the past, superior to a fourth-round showdown in opposition to No. 17 Daria Kasatkina. American qualifier Ethan Quinn, the 2023 NCAA champion for the College of Georgia, performed his second consecutive five-setter and was crushed by Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4. Griekspoor got here into the day 0-4 in third-round matches at majors.
Who’s on the schedule at Roland-Garros on Sunday?
No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and the 2 defending champions, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz, are all scheduled to look within the fourth spherical Sunday. There are three American males in Week 2 in Paris for the primary time since 1995, and all are in motion: No. 12 Tommy Paul, No. 13 Ben Shelton and No. 15 Frances Tiafoe. Shelton faces Alcaraz, Paul goes up in opposition to No. 25 Alexei Popyrin, and Tiafoe meets Daniel Altmaier.
