French Open players often make schedule requests. No one wanted to miss the Champions League final
PARIS — The French Open isn't the only sports event in Europe drawing attention from tennis players: The Champions League final will decide the continent's best soccer club, and one of the two teams involved Saturday night is Paris Saint-Germain, whose stadium is a couple of blocks from Roland-Garros.
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New York Times
4 minutes ago
- New York Times
Świątek's turnaround swift and merciless
Follow live coverage of the fourth round at Roland Garros with U.S. stars Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe aiming to join Tommy Paul in the quarters Getty Images The fourth round of the 2025 French Open is underway as several American stars aim for the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in Paris. Ben Shelton (13) trails Carlos Alcaraz (2), looking to join Tommy Paul (12) in the quarters, with Frances Tiafoe (15) taking on Daniel Altmaier. It's Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Zheng Qinwen (8) and Iga Świątek (5) vs. Elina Svitolina (13) in the women's singles last eight after wins today. Watch: TNT, truTV, Tennis Channel, Max (U.S.); TNT (UK) TNT, truTV, Tennis Channel, Max (U.S.); TNT (UK) Join the discussion at: live@ GO FURTHER Tennis on clay courts: The unpredictable dance of sun, rain, wind and brick dust at Roland Garros Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Getty Images Świątek went on a run of 11 straight points there, and has now won 12 of the last 13. Five games in a row for the defending champion, from 0-2 to 5-2. Four fixtures today. One is yet to be decided, with three match line-ups certain: Taylor Townsend/Evan King (4) vs. Estelle Cascino/Geoffrey Blancaneaux Christian Harrison/Nicole Melichar-Martinez vs. Laura Siegemund/Édouard Roger-Vasselin Robert Galloway/Jiang Xinyu vs. Andrea Vavassori/Sara Errani Getty Images Iga Świątek surfs into a forehand passing shot down the line like she's catching a wave and breaks Rybakina to love. This match has turned on that missed volley from Rybakina and Świątek's feet are squeaking across the clay like only hers can. Rybakina 6-1, 2-4* Świątek All the momentum and confidence seems to have drained out of Elena Rybakina and into Iga Świątek. Four games in a row, two breaks in a row for Świątek, who can now serve to make it 5-2 in the second set! How costly will that missed volley prove to be for the 12th seed? Huge couple of games there, both going Świątek's way. After benefitting from that Rybakina missed volley, the defending champion eventually holds for 3-2 that also saw her serve three double faults when up game point. It really was an extraordinary sequence. But she got through it, and is ahead in a set for the first time today. Getty Images Rybakina 6-1, *2-3 Świątek Thrice Świątek has game point with an advantage, thrice she has double-faulted. She obviously wants to put some pace on her second serves rather than just putting slow balls into Rybakina's side which she will almost certainly smack away, but still. Finally, a good serve at deuce, and she powers the ball away for a winner as if it has insulted her personally. Rybakina now, looking to make that profligacy count, advantage and a mini-fist-pump to her box. Ordinary shot into the net, another deuce. This game going on for 10 minutes or so now! And Rybakina hangs her head as she misses a very makeable backhand into open court to her left, shunting it wide. A big first serve from Świątek, return netted, and that is a big hold for the Pole. Świątek gets the dip. First, a few cheap errors give her a second break point in the fourth game of the set. Rybakina takes control of the point and draws a weak lob from the four-time champion, but it's so weak that Rybakina doesn't look sure of what to do with it and the ball ends up in the net. Huge service game for Świątek now, who needs to consolidate this break. Getty Images Two games all in the second set! At break point Elena Rybakina was in total control of the point, could and probably should have smashed it away at the net to go back to deuce. Then a floaty, loopy return, Rybakina poised for the simple overhand winner. No! She mistimed it horribly, jumping too early, her shot going almost instantly downwards at an acute angle to land in the net. How has she missed that? Świątek break and we are back level. A momentum-shifting point? Rybakina 6-1, 2-1* Świątek Rybakina looks fallible, human, for the first time in this match after a couple of errors. 30-40 and Świątek's first break point opportunity of the entire match (Rybakina has had six). Massive ace and the chance is gone. But the Kazakh nets and another break point... Getty Images Zheng Qinwen (8)'s match with Liudmila Samsonova (19) went to a first-set tiebreak, and the Chinese player took it 7-5. Close match so far. Zheng loves these courts, having won Olympic gold in last summer's Olympic Games. Getty Images Rybakina's level is about as high as it gets right now. Unless she drastically raises her own, Świątek will need her opponent to have a dip to stay in this match. Rybakina 6-1 *2-1 Świątek Rybakina takes the first two games of the set, eight games to one so far in this match, before an important hold for Świątek. The defending champion needs to find something if she wants to triumph in Paris again. Getty Images Following on from Matt, Świątek acknowledged this week that in her humbling defeats in Madrid and Rome to Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins respectively there were times when she stopped running for balls. It happened here in the final game of that first set too, as Rybakina sent yet another backhand fizzing past her. Świątek, who spent some time off the court after the end of the set, needs to lift herself to avoid a first Roland Garros defeat since 2021. Always struck incidentally when seeing Rybakina in person how cleanly she strikes a ball. A joy to watch when she's playing like this. Getty Images When Iga Świątek was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Coco Gauff earlier this month, footwork was the issue. Her defensive footwork and general movement, which is close to peerless and one of her greatest strengths, was absent. It seemed stiff and stilted throughout the afternoon in a way that it rarely does on clay. Usually, she glides across the court with a lethal combination of ease and speed, sliding into shots but never through them, then hustling back into position and jumping on the first chance to end the point. As James just pointed out, not so today either. GO FURTHER Coco Gauff cruises past Iga Swiatek to reach Madrid Open final for first time The hoary cliché says that the eyes are the window to the soul. For Iga Świątek, it's her feet. Elena Rybakina is serving consistently and creating a lot of power behind her second shot, but the most striking sight as she leads the four-time champion 6-1 is that Świątek's feet look stuck in the mud. Her elegant, fluid movement is so foundational to her game that when it's absent, it's very obvious and kind of a disaster. Getty Images Rybakina 6-1 Świątek And she does wrap up the set in double-quick time, 34 minutes and done. Not quite a bagel, but still pretty damning for Świątek. Rybakina led at 40-15, double faulted, then Świątek smashed a return home for deuce. Skidding low shot inches over the net, Świątek nets, then a booming ace. Rybakina *5-1 Świątek Elena Rybakina continues this game like she has all of them in this match so far, dismantling Świątek with a brutal display of relentless and accurate ball-striking. The crowd sing 'Let's go Iga, let's go' but Rybakina goes 15-40 up, two set points. Pulls it wide, 30-40... and then long, deuce! Can Świątek salvage a game? Big ace for advantage, no! The umpire sees it was wide. Another advantage, back to deuce, rinse and repeat and the game is now more than seven minutes long. Świątek swishes her racket in frustration after going long again. But she holds for 5-1. Rybakina still a double break up and serving for the set. Getty Images Rybakina 5-0* Świątek Ouch. Iga Świątek has been firmly second best so far against Elena Rybakina. Rybakina's wonderful hitting power has latched onto any errant shot or slower second serve from the Pole. Five games in a row, five games to love in this first set. Świątek looks unable to come up with any answers right now. Świątek must hold or she will lose the first set, and with a bagel, too. On the men's doubles side, Horacio Zeballos/Marcel Granollers (5) steamrollered American Austin Krajicek and Santiago González 6-2, 6-1, while second seeds Henry Patten/Harri Heliövaara beat Rohan Bopanna/Adam Pavlásek 6-2, 7-6(5). All-U.S. pair Evan King/Christian Harrison are a break up on compatriot Robert Galloway and Yuki Bhambri at 4-3 in the first, with Orlando Luz/Ivan Dodig leading John-Patrick Smith/Fernando Romboli 1-0 on serve in the first.
Fox Sports
23 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
PSG holds victory parade in Paris with Champions League trophy after overnight violence
Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Triumphant after its historic Champions League victory, Paris Saint-Germain put on an open-top bus parade through Paris on Sunday for roaring fans, an outburst of joy overshadowed by the death of two people and some 200 injuries in overnight celebrations. Brandishing their trophy, the winners of European club soccer's biggest prize arrived in Paris on Sunday after their 5-0 win over Inter Milan in Munich on Saturday night, and headed to France's most famous avenue: the Champs-Elysees. PSG fans waved blue and red as they waited for the team bus to arrive. As the parade started, the atmosphere was calm as fans stood behind barriers with a long line of riot police in front of them. They roared when the bus came into sight and captain Marquinhos brandished the trophy over his head, then passed it down to other players, some of whom wore sunglasses. Coach Luis Enrique joined in with the fans as they sang one of the club's anthems, and star forward Ousmane Dembele blew kisses. The overnight fatalities marred a night of exuberance after PSG clinched its first — and long-awaited — Champions League title. The Eiffel Tower glowed in team colors, and fans partied through the night. 'Isolated acts' The team denounced the violence. The title 'should be a moment of collective joy,' PSG said in a statement. 'These isolated acts are contrary to the club's values, and don't at all represent the immense majority of our fans.' The overnight celebrations were largely peaceful but degenerated into violence in some areas. A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the western city of Dax during a PSG street party after Saturday night's final in Munich, the national police service said. A man in his 20s was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations, and the driver has been detained, Paris police said. The circumstances of both are being investigated. A police officer was hit accidentally by fireworks at a PSG gathering in Coutances in northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries, the national police service said. A total of 201 people were injured around the capital, four of them seriously, the Paris police chief said. In the Alpine city of Grenoble, a driver ran into pedestrians who had gathered for a PSG celebration, injuring three or four people, the regional prosecutor's office said. It said the driver was detained. The city also saw fans throwing projectiles at firefighters and police using dispersion grenades. Light show The team and French officials are hoping Sunday is about the victory instead of violence. Up to 110,000 people were allowed along the iconic, tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue for a parade. Later, the team will join fans in PSG's home stadium, the Parc des Princes, for a concert and light show and official presentation of the Champions League trophy. A wide swath of central Paris was closed to traffic for the exceptional day. The security measures are also impacting the French Open unfolding nearby. Thousands of police were deployed to keep order, and will employ similar tactics as they did Saturday night, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters. AP reporters saw tear gas used near the stadium and water cannons used near the Arc de Triomphe to disperse rowdy crowds Saturday. In addition to the injuries and arrests, Nunez said four stores were looted overnight. Firefighters were so busy extinguishing garbage can fires in the middle of celebrations and dealing with other emergencies that the fire hotline was overloaded. By 2 a.m. Sunday, a total of 294 arrests had been made, including 30 people who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs-Élysées. Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, police added. At the Place de la Bastille, there were joyous scenes as fans climbed onto the base of the famous column, singing, dancing and letting off flares, while those around them joined in. At one point, motorbikes loudly revved their engines and the crowd cheered as they did laps around the column. There were no police nearby and, by 1 a.m., the atmosphere was upbeat with no tensions and plenty of singing. Nunez blamed the scattered troubles on 'thousands of people who came to commit acts of violence' instead of watching the match. He noted similar unrest on the sidelines of prior celebrations in the capital, such as after France's World Cup win in 2018. ___ John Leicester contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's soccer coverage at in this topic
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Atalanta's Gian Piero Gasperini leaves Serie A club after nine years in charge
Gian Piero Gasperini has left his position as Atalanta head coach after nine years. Gasperini, 67, transformed Atalanta into a regular in the Champions League and guided the club to the Europa League trophy in 2023-24. Prior to his appointment, Atalanta had not achieved a top-half finish in Serie A in eight years, but since Gasperini's arrival, the Bergamo-based club have secured a top-eight finish for nine successive seasons with 2024-25 bringing their fourth third-place ranking. Atalanta confirmed Gasperini's exit on Sunday and said: 'After so many years spent together we felt it was our duty to respect his desire to seek new stimuli, knowing full well that our relationship will never end and that our mutual respect will never diminish.' Gasperini began his coaching career in Juventus' youth setup, before taking first-team head coaching roles at Crotone and Genoa. An ill-fated spell in charge of Inter in 2011 saw him in charge for just five games before being dismissed, but he then took charge of Palermo and Genoa for a second time. Advertisement However, it is at Atalanta where the Italian has truly made a name for himself, taking charge of over 400 games across nine years in Bergamo. He helped guide the side to their first trophy in 61 years with victory in the Europa League in 2024, beating Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen in the final in Dublin. Under Gasperini, Atalanta also qualified for the Champions League five times in seven years. Atalanta fans did not respond well to news of Gasperini's likely departure. The club's fans took to the streets in Bergamo on Friday with a banner signed by fans showing the message 'Gasperini must stay.'
