Page 25 - Tennis

Djoker & the dark arts: Can 23 Grand Slams make him the king of the court?

The question of separating the player from the person continues to confront Djokovic

French Open: Swiatek beats Muchova, wins her third Roland Garros title

World No.1 Iga Swiatek defended her women's singles title at the French Open 2023, capturing a second consecutive Roland Garros. She beat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 for a hard fought win

History is always hovering over me: Djokovic on reaching French Open final

Novak Djokovic, who moved within one win of a record 23rd major by defeating World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, said that history is always hovering over him and he is thinking about winning the next match

French Open: Casper Ruud races past Zverev, returns to Roland Garros final

Emulating past successes is never easy, but Casper Ruud made it appear so on Friday at Roland Garros.

French Open: World no. 1 Swiatek seeks a 3rd title, faces Muchova in final

A little more than four years ago, in the first round of a tiny clay-court tournament in the Czech Republic, 95th-ranked Iga Swiatek lost in three sets to 106th-ranked Karolina Muchova. That was the only time they've ever played each other, although they are frequent practice partners. On Saturday, the same two players will step into Court Philippe Chatrier for a second matchup on a far grander stage and with far larger stakes: the French Open championship. Swiatek is now ranked No. 1, where she's been for more than a year, and is bidding for her third title at Roland Garros and fourth at a major tournament. Muchova's career has been sidetracked by various injuries, so she is ranked just 43rd and is unseeded, but she has been at her best over the past two weeks, particularly when coming back after facing a match point to eliminate No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals on Thursday. And Muchova did it with the same mix of old-school and new-school tennis that Swiatek remembers see

French Open: Swiatek ends Haddad Maia's dream run to reach her third final

Defending champion Iga Swiatek booked her place in the Roland-Garros final for the third time in four years after she ended the dream run of 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, beating her 6-2, 7-6(7).

French Open: Muchova topples Sabalenka, makes first Grand Slam final

Unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova clinched a spot in the first Grand Slam final of her career at French Open after stunning World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5 in a scintillating semifinal.

French Open: Alcaraz, Djokovic demand attention; Ruud vs Zverev later on

As intriguing as Carlos Alcaraz vs. Novak Djokovic is and it's plenty intriguing there are storylines worth following in the other French Open men's semifinal, too. No, frankly, Casper Ruud vs. Alexander Zverev, which will be played second on Friday, does not deserve the same billing. It's missing the cache and the resumes that the other two guys remaining in the field at Roland Garros will carry into Court Philippe Chatrier. Still, even without Djokovic's 22 Grand Slam titles with a chance to break a tie with Rafael Nadal for the most earned by a man in tennis history or even Alcaraz's lone such trophy, and even without Alcaraz's current No. 1 ranking or Djokovic's current No. 3 with a shot at moving back up (along with the career record for most weeks atop the ATP), No. 4 Ruud and No. 22 Zverev bring terrific games and past close-and-yet-so-far history at major tournaments. Let's examine Ruud first. He is a 24-year-old from Norway who is coached by his father, a former ...

French Open: Haddad Maia first Brazilian woman to enter semis in Open Era

Beatriz Haddad Maia on Wednesday became the first Brazilian woman to reach the Roland Garros semifinals in the Open Era after upsetting No.7 seed Tunisian Ons Jabeur 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1, here

French Open: Djokovic perfect in key tiebreaker, beats Khachanov in last 8

Novak Djokovic has come back after dropping a set for the first time in the tournament to beat Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 at the French Open on Tuesday to reach his 45th career Grand Slam semifinal. Roger Federer holds the men's record of 46 appearances in the final four of a major. The victory over the 11th-seeded Khachanov, a semifinalist at the US Open last September and the Australian Open this January, put Djokovic in that round for the 12th time at Roland Garros. Only Rafael Nadal has done it more often, with 15 semifinals, he had arthroscopic hip surgery last week and is sitting out this edition of the clay-court major. The number 3-seeded Djokovic now waits to see whether he will face number 1 Carlos Alcaraz next. Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic on clay at the Madrid Masters last year in their only previous encounter, was scheduled to meet number 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last men's quarterfinal Tuesday night. Number 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded Karolina ...

French Open: Muchova, Sabalenka in first ever semifinals at Roland Garros

Aryna Sabalenka and Karolina Muchova are in the French Open semifinals for the first time. The second-seeded Sabalenka overpowered Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday to set up a semifinal against the unseeded Muchova. The Czech beat 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-2. Muchova and Sabalenka had never progressed beyond the third round in Paris. Svitolina was booed by some sections of the crowd because she snubbed the Australian Open champion after the final point, instead of shaking her hand at the net. Sabalenka is from Belarus, and Svitolina playing in her first major since becoming a mother is from Ukraine. Belarus aided Russia in its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the war continues. Like other players from Ukraine, including Sabalenka's first-round opponent last week, Svitolina has not been shaking hands with players from Belarus or Russia after matches. Sabalenka's all-risk tennis paid dividends despite 37 unforced errors. Her aggressive ..

French Open 2023: From Medvedev's 'wild' exit to Varillas historic feat

Daniil Medvedev won his first title on clay just before the start of the French Open 2023 and was rated as one of the challengers to Novak Djokovic for the title, but was ousted in the 1st round

French Open: Dominant Djokovic moves into last 8, will face Khachanov next

Two-time champion Novak Djokovic romped to another comprehensive victory at the French Open, reaching the last-eight stage for a record 17th time by beating Juan Pablo Varillas

Djokovic breaks tie with Nadal by reaching 17th French Open quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic broke a tie with rival Rafael Nadal by reaching the French Open quarterfinals for the record 17th time, never truly in trouble during a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday. Djokovic is closing on bettering Nadal in a more prestigious category: Grand Slam singles championships. Both currently sit at 22. For Djokovic, that total includes two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021, and he can become the first man to own at least three trophies from each major tournament. Nadal is a 14-time champion in Paris but is missing this time because of a hip injury; he had arthroscopic surgery Friday night. Against the 94th-ranked Varillas, who had never won a Slam match until this event and then took three in a row in five sets, Djokovic was, not surprisingly, at his dominant best at Court Philippe Chatrier on a warm, sunny day. The 36-year-old from Serbia finished with more than twice as many winners, 35-15, and fewer unforced errors. He went 15 for 17 on trips

French Open: Doubles player disqualified for accidentally hitting ball girl

French Open doubles player Miyu Kato and her partner were forced to forfeit a match when Kato accidentally hit a ball girl in the neck with a ball after a point on Sunday. In the second set on Court 14 at Roland Garros, Kato took a swing with her racket and the ball flew toward the ball kid, who was not looking in the player's direction while heading off the court. At first, chair umpire Alexandre Juge only issued a warning to Kato. But after tournament referee Remy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen went to Court 14 to look into what happened, Kato and her partner, Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, were disqualified. That made Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain the winners of the match. It's just a bad situation for everyone, Bouzkova said. But it's kind of something that, I guess, is taken by the rules, as it is, even though it's very unfortunate for them. ... At the end of the day, it was the referee's decision. Bouzkova said she did no

French Open 2023: Coco Gauff rallies to beat Andreeva in all-teen showdown

American Coco Gauff rallied from a tough opening set to beat Mirra Andreeva of Russia in an all-teen showdown in the third round of the French Open on Saturday. Experience eventually told as the 19-year-old Gauff, who was the runner-up at Roland Garros last year, prevailed 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1, sealing the result with a cross-court backhand winner. That ended an impressive Grand Slam debut for the 16-year-old Andreeva, who earlier this week became the the youngest player to win a match in the women's main draw at the French Open since 2005. Last year's men's finalist Casper Ruud also had to recover from losing the opening set to beat Zhang Zhizhen, ending a strong run by the Chinese player. The fourth-seeded Ruud, who lost to Rafael Nadal in last year's final, won 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. I'm very happy with being through the first three matches. It's tough, Ruud said. "It's been much more pressure, obviously, playing this year compared to last year. "Last year, I could sort of just do my

French Open: Reigning Wimbledon champ Rybakina pulls out due to sickness

Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina pulled out of the French Open before her third-round match on Saturday because she is sick. The No. 4-seeded Rybakina was supposed to face 132nd-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo in the day's opening contest on Court Philippe Chatrier. Rybakina was considered among the top contenders for the title at Roland Garros. She has won her past 10 matches, including a tuneup title on red clay at the Italian Open last month.

Nadal has arthroscopic surgery for injury that took him out of French Open

Rafael Nadal had arthroscopic surgery on Friday night for the injured left hip flexor that forced him to sit out the French Open for the first time since he won the first of his record 14 titles there in his 2005 tournament debut. Nadal's spokesman, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, said three doctors were involved in the procedure, which was taking place in Barcelona. Perez-Barbadillo said he expected to be able to pass along information about the operation on Saturday, which is Nadal's 37th birthday. The Spaniard hasn't competed anywhere since he lost to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the Australian Open on Jan. 18. Nadal's movement clearly was restricted for much of that match and he ended up with his earliest exit at any Grand Slam tournament since 2016. An MRI exam the next day revealed the extent of the injury, and Perez-Barbadillo said at the time that Nadal was expected to need up to two months to fully recover. He initially aimed to enter the Monte Carlo Masters in March

French Open: Novak Djokovic laments fans who boo him after lengthy win

Novak Djokovic makes no secret of the way he loves to feed off negativity during a tennis match. Doesn't really matter whether he's ahead or behind on the scoreboard. The guy simply finds motivation and inspiration from all manner of slights, real and perceived. Maybe it's how a chair umpire is officiating that particular day ... or the way Djokovic's entourage is sitting in place in the stands instead of rising to encourage him ... or the criticism he receives for wading into a political issue all of which already have happened during this French Open. Or maybe it's how he's treated by the spectators who, as they did on Friday during Djokovic's 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over 29th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round at Roland Garros, get on his case and jeer him for seemingly no good reason at all. Which is what happened at Court Philippe Chatrier during the longest three-set Grand Slam match of the 22-time major champion Djokovic's long and distinguished ...

Preparation for Paris Olympics will start with UTT season 4: Sharath Kamal

Ace Indian table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal says preparations for next year's Paris Olympics will begin with the Ultimate Table Tennis' fourth season, which will be played in Pune from July 13-30. Sharath said preparations for the Hangzhou Asian Games, to be held from September 23 to October 8, are in the final stages but the main focus will be on the bigger prize at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Asian Games is the immediate target but the main goal for Team India is the Paris Olympics. When UTT starts, the countdown would be down to 12 months, for me personally that's when the preparation starts, Sharath told reporters here on the sidelines of the player draft for UTT season 4 on Friday. As for the Asian Games, we are already into the final leg, the preparation is done with. We just have to get into the best physical and mental shape. As on the preparation front, UTT will help us start the preparation for the Olympic Games, he added. He said the strong performance by the India