FRENCH OPEN
Norwegian Ruud sets up French Open final against Nadal
Eighth seed Casper Ruud rallied from a set down to beat an error-prone Marin Cilic 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-2 on Friday to become the first Norwegian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final and set up a French Open title clash against 13-time champion Rafa Nadal.
With his victory against the Croat on Court Philippe Chatrier, Ruud will at least rise to a career-high world ranking of sixth when the list is updated at the conclusion of the claycourt Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
“It was a great match from my side. I did not start great but from that break (second set) I played some of my best tennis this year,” Ruud said in his on-court interview.
“Marin is usually the one who is playing very fast and playing the balls very hard. I figured I need to step up a bit and counter attack and go for some faster shots. That helped.”
Ruud came into the contest with a 2-0 head-to-head lead over former world number three Cilic and a prolific record on claycourts. Before Friday’s match the Norwegian, since 2020, had won a tour-leading 65 matches and seven titles on the surface.
But it was the Croat, 10 years older than his 23-year-old opponent, who drew first blood, breaking Ruud twice in the opening set to nose ahead.
The big-hitting Cilic, seeded 20th, peppered the court with winners from his powerful forehand and saved all three breakpoints he faced on his own delivery.
But Ruud soon showed why he is so highly regarded on clay by absorbing Cilic’s power with his stout defence in the third game of the second set, forcing his opponent into making an array of unforced errors to go a break up.
With Ruud serving for the set, Cilic had multiple chances to level the contest but the Norwegian fought back from 0-40 down to clinch the stanza with a scorching backhand down the line.
Cilic’s frustration grew as the lanky Croat completely lost control over his groundstrokes and his unforced errors soared as Ruud jumped to a 4-0 lead in the third set.
The match was interrupted for over 15 minutes during the third set with Ruud serving at 4-1 when a protestor jumped onto the court and attached herself to the net.
Ruud lost the next two points on resumption but recovered to save two break points to hold serve for a 5-1 lead before serving out for the set on his next opportunity.
Another double break early in the fourth was enough for Ruud and he sealed the contest under three hours with his 16th ace of the match. Cilic’s sorry evening ended with 56 unforced errors — compared to just 21 from his opponent.
Ruud broke Cilic’s service five times in total and on Sunday he will face Nadal, whowill be aiming for a record-extending 22nd major title. Nadal progressed after his opponent Alexander Zverev retired with an ankle injury mid-match.
“He is the last player of the Big Three … that I have never played against,” Ruud said. “I guess it is perfect timing and was worth the wait to finally play him in a Grand Slam final.
“It will be special moment for me, hopefully a little bit for him as well. He has played so many finals but at least he’s playing a student from his academy this time. Should be fun.”
-Reuters
Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
“It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there’s a lot going on in our country right now with things — like, everything, yeah. I’m sure you guys know,” she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
“But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don’t feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.”
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump’s first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities.
“I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) ‘just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for’.
“So that’s what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
“Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I’m definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I’m proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.”
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
-Reuters
Paris St Germain forward Ousmane Dembele got a roaring welcome usually reserved for tennis champions when he carried the freshly-won Champions League trophy onto centre court on Monday.
The French soccer club beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the showcase match in Munich on Saturday to clinch the trophy for the first time before the players and staff got a heroes’ welcome in the French capital on Sunday.
The festivities for Dembele, who was voted the Champions League Player of the Season, continued on Monday when he carried the shiny trophy onto Court Philippe Chatrier in front of more than 10,000 people.
He was wearing a white T-shirt with the word “triumph” written on it.
Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele presents the Champions League trophy on the Philippe-Chatrier court before the fourth round match between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Cameron Norrie REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Organisers could not have timed the brief ceremony better, with Europe’s most prestigious soccer club trophy arriving minutes after world number 361 and wild card Lois Boisson of France stunned third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in three sets to reach the last eight in the upset of the tournament.
“Ici c’est Paris, (This is Paris)” shouted Dembele as the normally more reserved afternoon tennis crowd erupted with cheers.
“Exceptional, it was a magic moment in Munich. We played an exceptional season and were rewarded with our first European Cup,” France international Dembele told the crowd.
“The individual titles are fine but it is the collective titles that matter. We will try to win as many titles as possible.”
Novak Djokovic, the 24-times Grand Slam champion and three-times winner in Paris, was on court later for a straight sets win over Briton Cameron Norrie and he was quick to congratulate the Paris club, having joined in PSG’s Sunday festivities.
“An incredible season for PSG so congratulations to all Parisians,” the Serb said after his 100th career win on the Roland Garros clay. “It was amazing to be there yesterday.
“Two days ago during the game I was playing and it was a bit complicated to get to my hotel afterwards, complicated being an understatement. The roads were quite the show.”
PSG are only the second French side to win the European Cup after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
-Reuters
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Fourth round action continued at the French Open on Monday with top seeds Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff in action while Novak Djokovic chases a milestone 100th win at Roland Garros.
British hopes rest on Cameron Norrie and fifth seed Jack Draper, who is up against the entertaining Alexander Bublik in the night session.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: NOVAK DJOKOVIC V CAMERON NORRIE
Djokovic came into the French Open having won his 100th career title at the Geneva Open and in the fourth round he can achieve something only 14-times champion Rafa Nadal has accomplished — 100 wins on the red clay at Roland Garros.
Djokovic’s third round victory over Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic was his 99th, equalling his own mark at the Australian Open where he has won the title 10 times. He also has 97 wins at Wimbledon and 90 at the U.S. Open.
“I’m just hoping to carry on. Every time I step onto this court I’m playing for history,” Djokovic said.
But if the sixth seed is to surpass Nadal’s jaw-dropping record of 112 wins at the French Open, Djokovic will find himself playing into his 40s.
Standing in Djokovic’s way is Briton Cameron Norrie, who downed Daniil Medvedev in the first round and has reached the last-16 for the first time in his career
“That match with Daniil was so tough, it was such a big test for me. To get through that, I thought I can take a lot of confidence from that,” Norrie said.
“To make the second week for the first time is so, so good and at a time where I was not really stringing a lot of matches and a lot of wins together.”
But he has work to do with Djokovic yet to drop a set while the Briton has lost all five matches he has played against the former world number one, including the semi-final in Geneva last month.
The pair played out a tense encounter in Rome in 2023 where Djokovic criticised Norrie’s attitude. Norrie hit an overhead smash at Djokovic’s leg when the Serbian had turned his back on the net having given up on a point.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: MIRRA ANDREEVA V DARIA KASATKINA
Andreeva has yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year and the Russian sixth seed showed she means business when she packed off Yulia Putintseva by winning nine of the last 10 games in their third-round encounter.
But Russian-born Kasatkina, who now represents Australia, is high on confidence after knocking out 10th seed Paula Badosa in straight sets.
Andreeva and Kasatkina practice together and the Russian 18-year-old said: “It’s going to be an entertaining match, for sure, because I think we both know each other very well. I think it’s going to be fun and also maybe pretty tight.”
Andreeva is looking to better her semi-final run at Roland Garros last year while Kasatkina beat her in the only match they have played, a roller-coaster three-setter in Ningbo last year.
“Mirra, she’s a very nice girl and an amazing player. We’ve been quite good with each other. I can even say that I think we are kind of friends,” Kasatkina said.
“The last one in Ningbo was a big drama match. Let’s see what’s going to happen here. We never met on clay before.”
-Reuters
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