Page 2 - French Open

No Nadal in Australia Open 2024: A never-ending quest to regain fitness

Since Nadal has suffered a minor muscle tear, the Spaniard is expected to return to court in the French Open, scheduled to begin May 20, 2024, ahead of the Paris Olympics at the end of July.

Belgian tennis great Justine Henin receives the Philippe Chatrier Award

The International Tennis Federation has awarded Justine Henin its highest honor, the Philippe Chatrier Award. Henin won seven Grand Slam singles titles, an Olympic gold medal, and was part of Belgium's team that won the Fed Cup now called the Billie Jean King Cup in 2001. The award, named after the former ITF president, was introduced in 1996 and recognizes people who have made significant contributions to the sport on and off the court. She was one of the best players of her generation on the court and since retirement has made a significant and ongoing contribution to our sport at all levels, ITF president David Haggerty said Saturday. The 41-year-old Henin has established a successful academy in Belgium and a charitable foundation that helps provide sporting opportunities for children with disabilities. The award will be presented Saturday at the ITF World Champions Awards at London's Victoria and Albert Museum. I always gave my very best throughout my career and achieved a

23rd Grand Slam wins the GOAT debate for Djokovic, at least statistically

23 Grand Slam titles (most), most weeks at number one (388), 38 ATP Masters 1000 titles (most), and six ATP World Tour final titles (joint most). Djokovic is clearly the GOAT, statistically

French Open final: Djokovic wins his 23rd Grand Slam title by beating Ruud

Novak Djokovic won his men's-record 23rd Grand Slam title on Sunday with a 7-6 (1), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud in the French Open final. Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, broke a tie with rival Rafael Nadal for the most major singles trophies in the history of men's tennis, which dates to the 1800s. Nadal, a 14-time champion at Roland Garros, missed this year's tournament because he is injured. This victory goes alongside the French Open titles earned by Djokovic in 2016 and 2021, making him the only man with at least three from each major event. Since collecting his very first Slam trophy at the 2008 Australian Open, he has accumulated totals of 10 there, seven at Wimbledon and three at the U.S. Open. Also worth noting: Djokovic is again halfway to a calendar-year Grand Slam winning all four majors in one season something no man has achieved since Rod Laver in 1969. Djokovic came close to pulling off that feat in 2021, when he won the Australian Open, French Open and

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: Varillas makes history for Peru, makes it to last 16

Juan Pablo Varillas claimed the biggest win of his life on Friday by defeating Hubert Hurkacz to book a place in the fourth round of Roland Garros