Ruthless Sinner marches into French Open fourth round

PARIS: Top seed Jannik Sinner dismissed world number 34 Jiri Lehecka in straight sets on Saturday at Roland Garros as the Italian booked his place in the fourth round.

Sinner delivered a dominant display of power-hitting as the first-ranked men’s player beat his opponent 6-0, 6-1, 6-2.

“Today I was playing really, really well, especially during (the first) two-and-a-half sets… so very happy,” said Sinner, who dedicated the victory to his coach Simone Vagnozzi whose birthday it was Friday.

The 23-year-old will next meet 17th seed Andrey Rublev in the last 16 after the Russian was given a bye through the third round following Frenchman Arthur Fils’ withdrawal due to injury.

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Sinner is yet to drop a set in the French Open this year as he continues his impressive return to action following a three-month doping suspension.

He returned in time for the Italian Open earlier in May, eventually losing the final to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets, after confidently navigating his way through the first five matches.

Sinner has now racked up four sets without conceding a game since his comeback in Rome.

And on Saturday he won the first 11 games in a row against Lehecka before the Czech got on the scoreboard to make it 5-1 in the second set.

The three-time Grand Slam champion hammered 31 winners on his way to victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen and only faced one break point, which he saved.