Archive May 31, 2025

French Open 2025

Location: Roland Garros, May 25 – June

Jannik Sinner defeated Jiri Lehecka to advance to the French Open fourth round, dropping only three games in a flawless performance.

With a 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 victory, the Italian top seed defeated the Czech world number 34 in an hour, 35 minutes, ending the match.

Sinner put together a classy performance that included winning 11 games in a row to start the match, dropping only nine points on the serve and making 31 winners out of nine unforced errors.

Sinner’s winning streak against players outside the top 20 was extended by 64 games after winning.

Every opponent is unique, according to three-time major champion Sinner, who said, “I don’t think there’s anything I can improve after today.”

“I told my team that I was feeling well and physically ready this morning.” Because the beginning is crucial for confidence, we had to work hard in the beginning.

Andrey Rublev, the 17th seed, will face Sinner in a race for a spot in the quarter-finals in the quest for his first French Open title.

Sinner’s merciless destruction of Lehecka underscored his reputation as the man to beat with his recent two Grand Slam victories, both in the US Open and Australian Open hard courts.

The Italian, who moved around the court from the beginning, exerted great athleticism and control of the action.

In a 23-minute first set, Sinner made just one unforced error.

Lehecka finally rose to 3-1 in the second set to receive cheers from the audience on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Lehecka responded by grinning and raising both arms in the air in celebration despite the scoreline.

Lehecka, who had only won two games as Sinner continued his march toward the finish line, stampeding his authority on the performance with an emphatic serve and volley on match point.

Third seed Alexander Zverev defeated unseeded Italian Flavio Cobolli in straight sets to advance to the fourth round.

Zverev, who won his first Grand Slam title last year, continued his quest with a 6-2, 7-6, 6-1 victory.

In the final stages of the Giro d’Italia, British rider Simon Yates won the pink jersey from Isaac del Toro and won his second Grand Tour title.

Del Toro held a 43-second lead over Richard Carapaz in the final competitive round of the race, with Yates falling one minute and 21 seconds behind.

Del Toro, 21, from Mexico, would have won the first Giro by successfully negotiating the Colle delle Finestre, which is the race’s highest point, and where Yates’ hopes of winning dwindled in 2018.

But as he attacked on the ascent, leaving Del Toro and Carapaz, the 2019 winner, in his wake, Yates, 32, exorcised those ghosts.

When he crested, he not only wiped out Del Toro’s advantage but was also one minute 41 seconds ahead of his general classification rivals.

As team-mate Wout van Aert was in the breakaway group, Yates’s Visma-Lease A Bike team masterfully caught him on the descent, helping him maintain a comprehensive lead over the final 30 kilometers.

Chris Harper, the first Australian rider to win the Grand Tour stage, passed Yates in a minute and 57 seconds to take third place on the day, making it his second victory.

Del Toro crossed the line five minutes after Yates, who was surrounded by media and gave him hugs from the team staff at the finish.

Del Toro is three minutes, 56 seconds ahead of Carapaz, who is third, entering Sunday’s processional stage in Rome.

Yates said, “I’m not really emotional, but I couldn’t hold back the tears.”

“I’ve worked hard year after year, and I’ve had a lot of setbacks, but I finally managed to pull it off.”

On the final stage of the mountain in 2018, Yates cracked and lost more than 38 minutes before Froome memorably won the pink jersey.

The same climb was scheduled for the 205km stage from Verres to Sestriere this year, but Yates later claimed he “always had it in mind” when the route was announced.

43 kilometers into the climb, Carapaz’s EF Education team attacked within a kilometer.

Del Toro became aware of the danger and quickly cut the lead over Carapaz, with the rest of the crowd retreating.

Yates then launched a series of attacks before finally breaking free, joining his general classification rivals, who were all out of the woods.

Harris made her debut just six days after arriving in the UK to participate in the T20 Blast campaign, posting her 17-ball joint-third-fast half-century in women’s T20 history.

Only Marie Kelly, who reached 50 in 15 balls for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire in 2022, and Tess Flintoff, who reached 50 in 16 balls for Melbourne Stars against Adelaide Strikers in the same year, were better at producing the barnstorming performance.

Harris and Lizelle Lee tied for third place in 2019’s Surrey Stars when they face Lancashire Thunder in a 17-ball game, with three sixes and eight fours.

At Edgbaston, a target comfortably defended by captain Georgia Davis and her team, who won by 42 runs, fellow Bear Davina Perrin put together a 61-ball 87.

Suzie Bates, a top-ranked player from New Zealand, was the only other batter to score in double figures, with 45 off 28 balls coming from England.

After tied with The Blaze in their opening Blast game on Friday night, the Bears now have their first victory in the league.

The Nottinghamshire side also resurrended their campaign with a seven-wicket victory over Lancashire Thunder at Old Trafford in the Saturday’s other game.

With a 37-ball 59, Katie Mack gave Thunder a 169-4 lead in their 20 overs.

However, opener Georgia Elwiss, who had 53 in 43 balls and Kathryn Bryce, who had added more runs, kept Blaze in the lead on day 60 with a 29-ball 49, who had already scored 53 in 43 balls.