World Number One Sinner Obliterates Lehecka to Reach French Open Fourth Round

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 31, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts during his third round match against Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 31, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts during his third round match against Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
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World Number One Sinner Obliterates Lehecka to Reach French Open Fourth Round

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 31, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts during his third round match against Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 31, 2025 Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts during his third round match against Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

World number one Jannik Sinner delivered a flawless performance to pulverise Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-0 6-1 6-2 in little more than 90 minutes on Saturday, to burst into the French Open fourth round and issue a ominous warning to other title contenders.

The 23-year-old Italian, who returned to tennis in May after a three-month-doping ban, won the first 11 games in a row, and has so far found no resistance en route to the last 16, Reuters reported.

He has yet to drop a set in his second tournament back, after reaching the final in Rome earlier in the month.

"Today I was playing really, really well," Sinner said. "He was serving very well and brave. But I am very happy.

"My coach had (his) birthday yesterday and usually when he has birthday I don't play good. Luckily I was not playing yesterday."

"This morning I said to my team I feel well," he added. "I warmed up feeling really well, trying to go on court with a good focus. My team gave me the right tactics. It is a combination also being happy on court."

Sinner exploded into action, racing through the first set with a bagel in 25 minutes.

The Czech was left stunned, wondering how to counter such power and precision, but before he came up with any answer he was already trailing 3-0 in the second set.

Pinned to the back, Lehecka could only watch how Sinner's shots flew past him, including a sensational baseline forehand winner that earned the Italian a 4-0 advantage.

The 23-year-old world number 34 earned a big cheer when he finally got onto the scoreboard at 5-1 but his ordeal was far from over.

Sinner served out the second set before proceeding to break shell-shocked Lehecka at the very start of the third.

Running his panting opponent ragged, Sinner earned another break and put him out of his misery with his first match point.

The top seed has now stretched his winning streak at Grand Slam events to 17 matches, after winning the titles at the 2024 US Open and the Australian Open in January prior to his doping ban.

He will next face 17th-seed Andrey Rublev, who advanced after his opponent Arthur Fils of France withdrew with a back injury.



Ferrari Wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Third Year in a Row

 The 24 Hours of Le Mans - Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France - June 15, 2025 AF Corse's Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson celebrate with the chequered flag after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. (Reuters)
The 24 Hours of Le Mans - Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France - June 15, 2025 AF Corse's Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson celebrate with the chequered flag after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. (Reuters)
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Ferrari Wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Third Year in a Row

 The 24 Hours of Le Mans - Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France - June 15, 2025 AF Corse's Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson celebrate with the chequered flag after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. (Reuters)
The 24 Hours of Le Mans - Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France - June 15, 2025 AF Corse's Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Philip Hanson celebrate with the chequered flag after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. (Reuters)

Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the third year running Sunday but a late surge from Porsche Penske Motorsport denied the Italian manufacturer a podium sweep.

The No. 83 Ferrari 499P crew of Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Philip Hanson took the win as Ferrari won for the 12th time in the 102nd edition of the storied race. Their bright-yellow car, privately entered by the AF Corse team, got the better of Porsche and the two official factory-entered Ferraris.

Kubica took the checkered flag after a marathon spell at the wheel Sunday afternoon to make sure of the win.

“It has been a long 24 hours,” Kubica said to his team over the radio and thanked them in Italian. “Enjoy.”

The Penske-operated No. 6 Porsche 963 of Kévin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell surged late in the race to finish second ahead of the two other Ferraris, 14 seconds behind the winner.

For Kubica and Ye, it was redemption after their car — then with Robert Shwartzman as third driver — was a strong contender to win last year's race before a crash, a penalty and finally a race-ending mechanical failure.

It’s a career highlight for 40-year-old Polish driver Kubica, whose promising Formula 1 career was interrupted in 2011 when a crash while competing in a rally left him with severe injuries.

Kubica is the first driver from Poland to win Le Mans outright, and Ye is the first from China to achieve that feat.

“It’s a great story that we finally put a perfect ending with Robert,” Ye told broadcasters. “It looks easier from the outside than it is in the car. It’s just unbelievable.”

Ferrari was off the pace in qualifying, with the two factory cars 7th and 11th on the grid and the eventual winner 13th. But once tennis great Roger Federer waved the starting flag Saturday, Ferrari’s pace over long race runs soon became clear.

After a close fight with Toyota in last year’s race, this time Ferrari often seemed in near-total control. Early Sunday morning, it was on target for the first top-class podium sweep by one manufacturer since 2012.

Ferrari didn’t have it all its own way in the final hours, though.

Alessandro Pier Guidi spun in the No. 51 car on his way into the pits, losing the lead, while the resurgent No. 6 Porsche piled on the pressure.

Le Mans is as much a test of drivers’ resilience as it is the cars’ reliability. Both held up well in an unusually calm race that avoided much of the usual nighttime drama with few significant crashes and just one safety-car period.

Polish team Inter Europol Competition won the LMP2 class and Manthey won the GT3 class in a Porsche 911.