CELEBRITY
Huge benefits for Djokovic and Nadal after Federer’s French Open exit
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal come face-to-face with the future of tennis on Monday (June 7) as the French Open moves on from the shock exits of Roger Federerand Serena Williams.
World No. 1 Djokovic, chasing a 19th Grand Slam title, faces 19-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti who is in his first Grand Slam tournament.
Nadal, the 13-time champion in Paris and edging towards a record 21st major, also tackles an Italian 19-year-old in the shape of Jannik Sinner who he beat in the quarter-finals in 2020.
With Federer having withdrawn to rest his knees before Wimbledon, yet another Italian, Matteo Berrettini has a free pass to the quarter-finals.
Djokovic, the 2016 champion in Paris, is bidding to be the first man in more than half a century to win all four majors on multiple occasions.
He will next face a player who has become just the sixth man since 2000 to make the fourth round of a major on his debut.
“I really like how he plays. He’s got a lot of firepower from both forehand and backhand,” Djokovic said ahead of a first meeting with Musetti.
Thanks to Musetti and Sinner, it is the first men’s French Open to feature two teenagers at this stage since 2006, when Djokovic and Gael Monfils reached the second week.
Although Nadal defeated Sinner in the quarter-finals at last year’s delayed French Open, he expects a much tougher assignment on Monday.
“Jannik is not the best fourth round. Without a doubt, he’s a dangerous one,” said Nadal who is in the last 16 at the Slams for the 50th time.
While both Djokovic and Nadal can reach the quarter-finals for the 15th time, should Musetti and Sinner upset the odds, it will be the first time in history that three Italian men have reached the last eight at a Grand Slam.
Monday’s remaining last 16 tie features Diego Schwartzman, the 10th-seeded Argentine, against unseeded Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.
Only two of the women’s top 10 seeds are now left after Serena Williams saw her push for a record-equalling 24th major foiled again in a last 16 defeat Sunday by Elena Rybakina.
Fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin, the runner-up in 2020 and a former Australian Open winner, takes on Greek 17th seed Maria Sakkari.
Sakkari will be bidding to reach the quarter-finals of a Slam for the first time.
The Greek defeated Kenin in Abu Dhabi this year to avenge two previous losses with all three meetings having gone to three sets.
“Kenin played the final here last year, so she’s playing good here, for sure,” Sakkari said.
The winner of that clash will meet defending champion Iga Swiatek in the last eight if the eighth-seeded Pole sees off Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Swiatek has not dropped a set at the tournament in her last 10 matches.
Kostyuk, ranked 81, famously made her breakthrough at the 2018 Australian Open.
Just 15 at the time, she became the youngest player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam since 1997.
Sloane Stephens, the former US Open champion and runner-up to Simona Halep in Paris in 2018, takes on Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
Stephens is in the last 16 in Paris for the seventh time.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, a quarter-finalist at the 2020 Australian Open, faces American 17-year-old Coco Gauff who is in the last 16 for the first time.
-AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- World Cup7 days ago
Victor Osimhen qualifies South Africa for World Cup as Super Eagles go for Play-Off
- FIFA RANKING4 days ago
Nigeria Jumps Four Places in New FIFA Rankings; Stirs Optimism in Local Football Circles
- World Cup1 week ago
Super Eagles Stranded in Angola After Aircraft Suffers Cracked Windscreen
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Serial offenders, Kano Pillars Fined ₦9.5m, Banished to Katsina
- AFCON7 days ago
Tinubu Hails Super Eagles’ Spirit, Assures Support Ahead of World Cup Play-Offs
- CAF Champions League3 days ago
Two Decades After Their Defeat, Mamelodi Sundowns Return to Abeokuta
- CAF Champions League2 days ago
Remo Stars Host Mamelodi Sundowns in Crucial CAF Champions League Showdown
- AFCON1 week ago
Ticket Sales for AFCON Morocco 2025 Kick Off Monday