Tennis · International
Gasquet closes career at Roland-Garros after defeat to Sinner
World No.1 Jannik Sinner won 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 in the second round as the 38-year-old Frenchman finished his professional career in front of his home crowd.
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The final score of a long career
Richard Gasquet played the last professional match of his career on 29 May 2025, losing 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 to Jannik Sinner in the second round of Roland-Garros. The meeting on Court Philippe-Chatrier lasted one hour and 57 minutes. For Sinner, it delivered a place in the third round. For the Frenchman, it fulfilled his decision to finish at the home tournament that had been part of his playing life for more than two decades.
The result showed the distance between the retiring 38-year-old and the reigning world No.1. Gasquet collected seven games, with his strongest resistance reflected in the first and third sets. Sinner's six-game second set removed any prospect of an uncomplicated extension to the farewell campaign, and the Italian completed the match without dropping a set.
The champion makes room for the farewell
After the competitive task was finished, Sinner remained on court as Roland-Garros honored Gasquet. The ceremony included video messages from fellow players, among them Novak Djokovic, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The spectators' support had accompanied the match from the opening service game and continued after it, giving Gasquet a final occasion to address the Paris crowd.
Sinner's own tribute placed the focus on his opponent's career and character. That change of emphasis did not alter the result, but it allowed both parts of the afternoon to have their proper place: advancement for the top seed and recognition for a French player whose professional career ended there. Gasquet expressed satisfaction with finishing before a full stadium against the world's leading player.
A French career that reached across generations
Gasquet's final appearance was his 22nd Roland-Garros campaign. His first senior main draw in Paris came in 2002; that year, he also won the boys' singles title. His enduring one-handed backhand helped make him one of the most recognizable members of a generation that included Tsonga, Simon and Gael Monfils.
The broader record included 16 ATP singles titles, a career-high ranking of No.7, and three Grand Slam singles semifinals. He was part of France's Davis Cup-winning team in 2017 and won an Olympic doubles bronze medal in London in 2012. Roland-Garros and ATP coverage identified his 610 tour-level singles victories as the leading total for a French man in the Open Era. The farewell recognized that sustained career rather than reducing it to the outcome of one final afternoon.
Different next steps for the two players
Sinner's victory extended his major-match winning run to 16, following his US Open and Australian Open title campaigns. ATP coverage placed him at 18-5 at Roland-Garros, where he had reached the semifinals in 2024. His next opponent was Jiri Lehecka, so the top seed's Paris tournament continued with another competitive task.
Gasquet had no next tournament to prepare for. In his post-match reflections, he described the unfamiliar absence of the usual demands to recover, train and get ready for another event. He nevertheless looked forward to playing tennis for enjoyment. His retirement was thus an end to professional competition, made definite by the Sinner defeat and the ceremony that followed, while leaving his relationship with the sport intact.
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