PARIS: Top-seeded Jannik Sinner put an end to Richard Gasquet`s professional career with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 victory in the second round oftheFrenchOpen onThursday.

The 23-year-old Italian dispatched the 38-year-old Frenchman in one hour, 58 minutes at Roland Garros. Sinner also bounced Gasquet from the French Open last year.

`It`s obviously a very special place for me to play and against Richard,` Sinner said.

`We played last year too. It`s very tough but I`m happy to be in the third round.

Sinner`s victory was his 16th in a row in a Grand Slam, making him the first man born in 1990 or later to accomplish the feat.

`We have a good relationship off the court. We are different generations, but it`s your moment,` Sinner said to Gasquet.

`Congrats to your family, to your team.

Without great people around each player, it`s impossible to make such an incredible career. You played in such an incredible era of tennis and everyone will recognize you, even after your retirement.

Gasquet, a 16-time winner on the ATP Tour, told the L`Equipe newspaper in October that he will bid adieu in front of his home fans at Roland Garros.

Known for his sensational, one-handed backhand, Gasquet reached a career-high ranking of number seven.

Gasquet never won a Grand Slam singles title, however, going as far as the semi-finals twice at Wimbledon (2007, 2015) and once at the US Open (2013). His best showing at the French Open was a quarter-final appearance in 2016.

While Gasquet`s 23-year career comes to a close, Sinner will return to the court to face Jiri Lehecka in the third round. The Czech posted a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over 26thseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain.

Also on Thursday, third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany rebounded from a firstset misstep to notch a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over Jesper De Jong of the Netherlands.

Zverev had 43 winners and broke De Jong`sserve seven times to win the match in three hours.

Fourteenth-seeded Frenchman Arthur Fills survived a scare as well as a back injury by posting a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 0-6, 6-4 victory over Jaume Munar of Spain.

The marathon match lasted four hours, 25 minutes.

He will next face 17th seed Andrey Rublev, who overcame Australia`s Adam Walton 7-6 (7/1), 6-1, 7-6 (7/5).

Ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia and 19th-seeded Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic weren`t as fortunate.

Kazakhstan`s Alexander Bublik fought his way back for a 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over de Minaur, while Portugal`s Henrique Rocha did the same in a 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over Mensik.

Bublik and Rocha will square off against each otherin the third round.

Women`s second seed and former Roland Garros finalist Coco Gauff beat Tereza Valentova of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-4 to set up a third-round meeting with another Czech Marie Bouzkova.

The American did not have things all her own way, however.

Gauff came under threat from the 18-yearold Valentova`s powerful serve but found a way past her thanks to her relentless returning and powerful groundstrokes.

`She`s very young and I knew it would be a tough match,` 2022 runner-up Gauff said.

The 21-year-old took the opening set in 35 minutes but a string of service breaks, three in total, made the second a lot more competitive as her Czech opponent refused to go down quietly.

Sixth seed Mirra Andreeva, who had an impressive run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, saw off American Ashlyn Krueger 6-3, 6-4.

Andreeva is playing her first Grand Slam as a top-10 seed after capturing WTA 1000 series titles in Dubai and Indian Wells.

`I`m just happy that I stayed calm during the match, and I`m happy that I overcamesome little difficulties throughout the match,` said the teenager.

Third seed Jessica Pegula beat fellow American Ann Li 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) and will face former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova in the third round after the Czech`s win over Magdalena Frech.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was knocked out, though, dispatched 6-0, 6-3 by Russian Veronika Kudermetova.

Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa came from a set down to beat Romania`s ElenaGabriela Ruse 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 while Australian Open champion Madison Keys, seeded seventh, dispatched Britain`s Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-3.

In Wednesday`s late action, Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 20th seed, suffered his earliest FrenchOpen exitinsevenyearsasthe 2021 runner-up lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to Matteo Gigante.

The Italian qualifier goes through to face Ben Shelton, who received a walkover as Hugo Gaston pulled out with an injury.

Bosnian Damir Dzumhur suffered a nasty fall in his match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard but recovered to outlast the bigserving Frenchman 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Denmark`s 10th seed Holger Rune, the only man to beat Carlos Alcaraz on clay this year in the Barcelona final, beat American wild card Emilio Nava 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the night match.

The United States had reason to cheer though when Frances Tiafoe eased past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 while Tommy Paul came back from the brink of defeat to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

On the women`s side, former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina won 6-3, 6-3 against American Iva Jovic, whose compatriot Caroline Dolehide was beaten 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 by 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko, while Russian lith seed Diana Shnaider lost to Ukraine`s Dayana Yastremska.

-Agencies