Jannik Sinner put in a superb performance and easily dispatched home hope Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round where he will play Russia’s Pavel Kotov.
In a match lasting two hours and 14 minutes, Sinner’s “extraordinary timing” and superior baseline play was simply too much for the French veteran – who later revealed that while he enjoyed playing in the night session for the first time in his career, he found centre court slower under the roof compared to court one.
Gasquet was once as high as seven in the world and possesses one of the most famous single-handed backhands in the history of the game. But the 15 years age difference between the two players highlighted how the sport has moved on over the years with the new generation favouring harder and flatter shots and with the ability to hit through the court.
Gasquet was full of praise for his younger opponent: “He plays very fast. It’s rare,” he said. “Apart from Djokovic, he hits a hard backhand, a hard forehand. He has a good serve as well. So, with Alcaraz they will be No. 1 and 2 I think for quite a few years to come, because they are both very good players. So, yes, a great ambassador for the sport. He’s a great guy. He plays really very, very well. His timing is extraordinary. He’s a very big player.”
The pair had met twice before, with the Italian having won both encounters last year on grass and hard court, but this was their first match up on clay. Gasquet, who later compared himself to Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal in terms of his uncertainty regarding his future in the sport admitted that he is now taking his career simply on a month-by-month basis as his ranking has now dropped outside the top 100.
While Gasquet struggled with an alarming 38% of first serves in the first set, he was broken early and immediately kept the home crowd at bay. Although he had a breakback point at 4-3, Sinner held firm with two drop shots to move 5-3 up. Gasquet saved two set points at 15-40 down in the next game and forced Sinner to serve out – and he duly obliged while with a service winner on his fourth set point to wrap up the opener in 54 minutes.
Sinner, who won his first Slam in January in Australia, upped his game even more in the second set mixing up controlled baseline power along with 78% of first serves in as the Frenchman was unable to find answers. He was broken immediately at the beginning of the set and again to give Sinner a commanding 5-1 lead and the set was over in just 30 minutes.
The third set began in familiar fashion and 37-year-old Gasquet was staring down the barrel when 2-0 down with the stadium almost silent. However, he found some inner belief and fought back to break Sinner for the first time to level up at two games all to breathe new life into the crowd. But Sinner regrouped immediately and once again broke to go 3-2 up with a glorious forehand crosscourt winner. Gasquet, who’s best result at his home Slam was in 2016 when he reached the quarters, fought through four deuces in the penultimate game but Sinner soon served out for victory.
