Tennis

Czech Barbora Krejcikova reached the French Open final as she beat Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari 7-5 4-6 9-7 on Thursday in a nail-biting, see-saw contest in which she saved a match point and overcame a wrong line call that held up her celebrations. Krejcikova dragged herself back from the brink of facing a match point at 3-5 in the third set and then rode an emotional roller coaster when she thought she had booked her place in the final before a wrong

PARIS: A fired-up Novak Djokovic repelled a stirring fightback by Italian Matteo Berrettini to claim a 6-3 6-2 6-7(5) 7-5 victory on Wednesday to set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with defending champion Rafa Nadal. The 34-year-old bellowed a series of frightening roars after completing a victory that at one stage looked like a formality but became increasingly fraught as Berrettini threw the kitchen sink at the Serb who becomes only the second man to reach 40 Grand Slam semi-finals after Roger Federer.

Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev says French Open organisers "preferred Amazon to people" by putting his quarter-final against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas on at night without fans. Medvedev, 25, lost in straight sets in a match played behind closed doors because of France's coronavirus curfew. Asked if he was disappointed there were no fans, Medvedev said: "Yes, 100%. "Our match was definitely the match of the day, so Roland Garros preferred Amazon to people. It's easy as that." This year's French Open has featured

Defending champion Iga Swiatek held off a fierce challenge from Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk to reach the French Open quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-4 victory on Monday. The eighth-seeded Pole has now won 22 consecutive sets at Roland Garros going into her clash with Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari as she bids to become the first woman to retain theRoland Garros title since Justine Henin in 2007. Against an 18-year-old opponent who threw everything at her, Swiatek kept her composure on an empty court

SHANGHAI: A decade ago, more than 110 million people tuned in from China to watch Li Na become the first Asian-born player to win a Grand Slam singles title. But now she is rarely seen on TV or in the country's media. Her big breakthrough for Chinese and Asian tennis at the 2011 French Open was followed by a second major at the Australian Open in 2014 before Li tearfully called it quits later that year. Now 39, Li is only seen fleetingly

Taking a hard line with elite athletes – that they are contractually bound to show up before the media - can backfire when there is anxiety among the best performers, says a psychologist. QUEENSLAND: Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka took a stand this week that called attention to the mental health of professional athletes. She refused to conduct interviews with the media after her matches at the French Open, citing concerns over her own mental well-being. And, in return, the tennis authorities fined

TOKYO: Japanese fans and public figures rallied in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka on Tuesday (Jun 1), offering sympathy after she withdrew from the French Open and opened up about her battles with depression. The four-time Grand Slam winner's career is followed closely in Japan and the controversy in Paris, which followed her refusal to attend press conferences, led news bulletins on Tuesday. Reaction in Japan was largely sympathetic, with one Twitter user urging Osaka to "take a good, long break". "I

PARIS: Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a sluggish start to reach the second round of the French Open with a 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-1 victory over France's Jeremy Chardy on Sunday (May 30). The fifth seed, who extended his winning run on clay to five matches after clinching the title in Lyon last week, was in trouble in the opening set in an empty court Philippe Chatrier after spectators were sent home under a 9pm local time curfew before making his superiority count. Tsitsipas, who

Iga Swiatek returns to the scene of her biggest triumph on Monday when she starts her French Open defence against unseeded Kaja Juvan, while Serena Williams will resume her quest for a 24th major in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier. Swiatek, who turns 20 on Monday, was catapulted into the spotlight at Roland Garros last year when she became Poland's first Grand Slam singles champion and the youngest woman to capture the title in Paris since Monica Seles in 1992. She

PARIS: Thirteen-time champion Rafael Nadal, 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer and world number one Novak Djokovic were placed in the same half of the French Open draw on Thursday (May 27). The three most successful players in the history of the men's game have won 17 of the last 20 Grand Slam titles between them and Federer and Djokovic are on a quarter-final collision course. Title holder Nadal, who starts against Australian Alexei Popyrin, could face Italian prospect Jannik Sinner, the 18th

PARIS: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will set their sights on more Grand Slam history at Roland Garros as the French Open embraces a new and eerily empty era of night time tennis. A 14th title in Paris for Nadal would take him to a record-setting 21st major, surpassing the mark he shares with Roger Federer who has already written off his hopes of adding to his lone success in the French capital back in 2009. Djokovic, the champion in 2016, can move

Top-seeded Bianca Andreescu needed just 61 minutes on Monday to post a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Spanish qualifier Andrea Lazaro Garcia in the first round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France. The Canadian won 83.9 percent of her first-serve points while winning in her first match since losing to Australia's Ashleigh Barty in the Miami Open final on April 3. Andreescu next faces Belgium's Maryna Zanevska, who defeated Yuliya Hatouka of Belarus 6-2, 6-1 in a battle of qualifiers. Among other matches,

American Coco Gauff is brimming with confidence ahead of the French Open, buoyed by strong results in Italy on clay in the past two weeks that have helped the 17-year-old climb 10 places to a career-best 25th in the rankings. Gauff has already made the fourth rounds of the Australian Open and Wimbledon in her nascent career, and this week she will be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career when the clay court major starts on Sunday

Canadian Denis Shapovalov said on Sunday he will not play at the French Open due to a lingering shoulder injury. The world number 14 lost to Norway's Casper Ruud 7-6(6) 6-4 in Saturday's Geneva Open final. "I'm saddened to share that after consulting with my medical team I've made the difficult decision to withdrawal (sic) from @rolandgarros," he tweeted. "Unfortunately my shoulder has been bothering me and while medical tests look good, it is for the best to rest. See you in 2022,

American 17-year-old Coco Gauff clinched her second WTA title by beating Wang Qiang 6-1 6-3 in the final of the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma. Third seed Gauff - ranked a career-high 30th in the world - needed just one hour 14 minutes to overcome Wang - a player 12 years her senior. Gauff saved three break points at 5-1 before sealing the first set. She then broke Wang in the fifth game of the second set to cruise to her first clay-court title

LONDON: The BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California that was scheduled to be held in March will now take place in October, the ATP said on Thursday. The dual ATP-WTA hardcourt event was planned for March 8-21 but was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns, the second consecutive year the tournament was impacted. Popularly known as the "fifth major" after the four Grand Slams, the 2020 Masters 1000 tournament was the first major professional sporting event in the United States to

Rafael Nadal won his 10th Italian Open with a 7-5 1-6 6-3 victory over world number one Novak Djokovic in Rome. Both players dropped serve early on in the first set before Nadal took it after securing the key break at 5-5. Djokovic dominated the second set but paid for not taking two break points in the fifth game of the decider. A stunning backhand from Spaniard Nadal saw him break the Serb in the next game before he went on to hold

ROME: World number one Novak Djokovic's quarter-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas has been pushed back until Saturday after play was suspended because of rain on Friday. Monte Carlo winner Tsitsipas was leading defending champion 6-4, 2-1 when the match was interrupted for a second time at the Foro Italico. The match was first halted for 3 hours 30 minutes with the fifth seed leading 4-3 before heavy rain hit the Italian capital. Play resumed at 16:45 GMT, enough time for Tsitsipas to close

ROME: World number one Novak Djokovic swept into the Italian Open quarter-finals on Thursday (May 13) with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in front of spectators at the Foro Italico. The five-time Rome champion won 6-2, 6-1 in 70 minutes against the 48th-ranked Spaniard, with the venue filled to 25 percent of capacity for the first time amid the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. "It was not good, it was great. I missed the crowd," said the 33-year-old, who next plays Stefanos

ROME: Champion Simona Halep was forced to retire injured in the second round of the Italian Open on Wednesday (May 12) weeks before her bid to reclaim the French Open. The world number three pulled up with a left calf issue while leading Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-1, 3-3 in their match on clay at the Foro Italico in Rome. The 29-year-old limped back to her chair helped by officials but left the court in tears after treatment. The injury comes three weeks before