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Arab News
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Alcaraz, Swiatek pass tough French Open tests
PARIS: Carlos Alcaraz fought past American Ben Shelton in a tight four-set match to reach the French Open quarterfinals on Sunday, while Iga Swiatek staged a comeback to defeat Elena Rybakina and keep her bid for a fourth straight title alive. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Reigning champion Alcaraz clinched a 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory after three hours and 19 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to book a last-eight berth for a fourth straight year. Alcaraz will take on Tommy Paul in the quarterfinals, after the 12th seed saw off Australia's Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. 'Today I fought against myself in the mind,' he said. 'In some moments I was mad, I was thinking not very good things. But I'm really happy that I didn't let the bad thoughts play against me... I tried to calm myself down and keep going.' The four-time Grand Slam champion saved three set points in a dramatic opening-set tie-break before clinching it himself on his second. He crucially then saved six break points in a marathon first game of the second set, before going on to win it courtesy of a break in the eighth game. American 13th seed Shelton deservedly got a set on the board to extend the match, but Alcaraz quickly bounced back with an early break in the fourth. The second seed saw a match point come and go in the ninth game of the set, but he quickly brought up another one on his own serve and took the opportunity with a trademark forehand winner. Lorenzo Musetti continued his rich vein of form with an impressive 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 success against Danish 10th seed Holger Rune in the night session. The Italian eighth seed, who reached at least the semifinals in clay-court Masters events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, will face Frances Tiafoe in the last eight. American 15th seed Tiafoe booked a place in his first-ever French Open quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win over unseeded German Daniel Altmaier. Four-time Roland Garros champion Swiatek, who has been struggling for her best form and has not reached a final since winning the title last year, was in serious trouble when trailing 2-0 to Rybakina in the second set. But the 24-year-old dug deep to clinch a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory. Swiatek is aiming to become the first woman to win four straight Roland Garros crowns since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago. The Pole will next face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who knocked out 2024 losing finalist Jasmine Paolini, in the last eight on Tuesday. Swiatek is now on a 25-match winning streak at the French Open and boasts a remarkable 39-2 win-loss record in the tournament. Rybakina had won both of her previous career meetings with Swiatek on clay and the Kazakh dominated the opening set, hammering 12 winners past her bewildered opponent. 'Well it was tough you know, first set I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner,' said Swiatek. 'I needed to do something to get back in the game, but with her playing like that I didn't feel like I had much hope.' Rybakina broke in the first game of the second set as she threatened to run away with the match. But Swiatek impressively turned the set around with a run of five straight games. The fifth seed was one game from defeat when trailing 5-4 in the deciding set, but she managed to end Rybakina's resistance and held her nerve to serve out the match. Svitolina made the quarterfinals for the fifth time with a comeback 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 win over Paolini, saving three match points in a dramatic opening clash on Court Philippe Chatrier. The former world number three, who has never made a Grand Slam final, will be bidding to reach a first Roland Garros semifinal when she faces Swiatek. 'I still cannot believe that this match finished my way,' said Svitolina. World number one Aryna Sabalenka needed eight match points to wrap up a 7-5, 6-3 win over American Amanda Anisimova. The three-time Grand Slam champion reached her 10th successive major quarter-final, where she will face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen. 'I want to get this win after Rome, so I'm happy to face her (Zheng) in the quarters,' said Sabalenka, who lost to Zheng in the Italian Open last eight last month. Zheng secured a quarterfinal place with a hard-fought three-set victory over 19th-seeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova. The Chinese eighth seed extended her winning streak at Roland Garros to 10 matches, winning 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘That's amazing': Carlos Alcaraz's incredible sportsmanship staggers tennis legend
Carlos Alcaraz is being widely praised across the tennis world after an incredible act of sportsmanship during his win over American Ben Shelton at the French Open on Monday morning. The reigning Roland Garros champ won a four-set war of attrition with the American 13th seed to reach the French Open quarter-finals and it was a contest full of drama. The Spaniard emerged victorious 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 after over three hours of blistering serves, power-hitting and drop-shots on Court Philippe Chatrier. Alcaraz's sporting act towards his opponent early in the second set was particularly eye-catching. The four-time grand slam champ willingly went down a break point in the first service game of the second set when he forfeited a point despite appearing — to the naked eye — to pull off a miracle volley. Alcaraz was at the net when Shelton attempted a cross-court passing shot, leaving the 22-year-old desperately lunging across his body to attempt a backhand volley at full stretch. Alcaraz's volley popped over the net as a clean winner while his racquet went flying towards the umpire's chair. You can watch the moment in the video player above. The two-time Wimbledon champ was awarded the point by the chair umpire, but he didn't hesitate to inform the umpire he wanted to forfeit the point because his fingers were not on the racquet when it made contact with the ball. Replays showed the racquet had slipped out of Alcaraz's fingers when the ball met the strings. Any stroke where players are not touching their racquets at the point of connection is a violation of tennis rules. However, Alcaraz could easily have gotten away with it if he'd have wanted to because Roland Garros does not use video review technology to decide on such matters. With the match delicately poised at the time, American tennis legend John McEnroe was blown away by Alcaraz's sportsmanship. 'That's amazing,' he said in commentary for TNT Sports. An American commentator on the broadcast said: 'That's huge. That's great sportsmanship. 'And by the way, they're not using video replay here, so they wouldn't be able to view video. At the other majors they're starting to use it.' Alcaraz after the match acknowledged the warm applause he received from the crowd as a result of his classy act. 'It's just about if I know that I didn't or I did a wrong thing, wrong shots or an illegal shot, I have to say,' he said when asked about his decision to forfeit the point. 'You know, I have to be honest with myself. I have to be honest with Ben, with everyone. I think that's the sport or should be like this, just to be fair with the opponent, with yourself.' Shelton clearly appreciated the gesture and the pair warmly embraced after Alcaraz had won match point in the fourth set. 'I think we both have huge respect to each other, we entertained the people well,' Alcaraz said on court. 'He's a really powerful player — he can make any shot. I appreciate the moment that I've shared with him today.' Alcaraz edged a tight first set, which produced only one unconverted break point, at the end of a lengthy tie-break that saw both players have chances to clinch the opener. When Alcaraz finally forced a break against the big-serving Shelton in the second set, it was enough for him to move into a two-set lead. But once again Alcaraz failed to see out a straight-sets victory as Shelton produced two breaks of serve to edge the most open of the four frames. Alcaraz nonetheless bounced back to gain the advantage in the fourth set, before serving out as dusk descended over centre court. Another American awaits Alcaraz in the last eight after 12th seed Tommy Paul earlier defeated Aussie Alexei Popyrin in straight sets. 'I remember that every match that I've played against him he was really tough. He was really difficult,' said Alcaraz of Paul. 'In Grand Slams, in Masters 1000, and all the tournaments I've played against him it wasn't easy at all. I lost a lot, a few matches against him as well. He is in the quarter-finals of another Grand Slam, so his level is really high right now.' Alcaraz leads his series with Paul 4-2, and most recently defeated the 28-year-old in straight sets on the red dirt of Roland Garros at the quarter-final stage of the 2024 Olympic Games
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
Tennis star's incredible display of sportsmanship
Carlos Alcaraz has conceded a point in his match against Ben Shelton after admitting to throwing his racquet.
New York Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Tennis highlights rock, but Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe want what Carlos Alcaraz is having
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — They are two of the biggest showmen in tennis. One is an artist. The other is a decathlete / quarterback hybrid who has somehow landed on a tennis court and made it his home. Cue the ridiculously sharp-angled drop shots, the flying smashes, the howitzer forehands on the full run. The folks who craft tennis highlight reels had plenty of material to work with from the start of the fourth-round battle between Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton at the French Open. Advertisement Alcaraz, 22, already has four Grand Slam titles and appears destined for many more. He's been No. 1 in the world and has a 7-4 record against the player who holds that spot now, Jannik Sinner. The challenge for Shelton is to get some of that, to go with what he already has: 150 mph serves, tons of energy, plenty of extant highlights and loads of box office appeal. There's a reason that TNT, the U.S. broadcaster for the tournament, has his coach and father Bryan Shelton wired up during his matches. There are moments when he seems so close to the top table, and others when he seems as far away as his ranking, No. 13, suggests he is. He saves his best stuff for the Grand Slams, but he probably should be winning events just below them more often than he is now. After a 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 defeat, he said that this was the closest he had felt to Alcaraz, who has won all three of their matches. 'The most pressure that I thought that I've applied, the most comfortable that I felt in the baseline exchanges, the best I've hit my open-stance backhand when he's put pressure there,' Shelton said. 'I don't want to be disrespectful and just be, like, 'yeah, I'm right there,' but I feel like I am close to starting to win some matches like that, give guys a run for their money more often, and have these deeper runs more consistently.' He didn't have to look far for company in that mission. As Shelton was winning some battles but losing his war, Frances Tiafoe, a compatriot with similar star appeal, was making his latest play for Grand Slam bonafides. He rammed past Germany's Daniel Altmaier on his way into a first French Open quarterfinal. Tiafoe will play Lorenzo Musetti, the No. 8 seed who outlasted Holger Rune in an exhibition of clay-court pattern play and cat-and-mouse tennis while Tiafoe and Shelton were debriefing on what had gone down. Shelton's exit from the French Open Sunday was filled with camaraderie and smiles and hugs and plenty of good feels. It was also eerily similar to his exit at the last Grand Slam, the Australian Open. That one came at the hands of Sinner, in the semifinals. In that match, Shelton served for the first set at 6-5, only to have Sinner raise his level, pull off the break and deprive Shelton of the early edge. In this one, Shelton stayed even with Alcaraz through the first 12 games and almost 90 percent of the tiebreak that followed them. He had three set points, one of them on his serve. Advertisement On all three, Alcaraz was just that bit better, forcing a backhand into the net from Shelton on the American's best chance. Then Alcaraz clinched the set, by doing something that only one or two other players on the planet might be able to do. Shelton has developed a nasty slice backhand that bounces somewhere between an opponent's ankles and the middle of their shins. It normally forces them to play a defensive shot in reply. Not Alcaraz. He produced a kill shot with his racket almost to the ground, generating so much velocity and topspin on the ball that Shelton never had a chance. He'd played Alcaraz to a draw for nearly 70 minutes, and come away from it looking up at a mountain that grown taller and steeper than when he had started the climb. The one time he did gain an edge, by breaking Alcaraz's serve to go up 3-1 in the third set, Alcaraz grabbed it right back. He did so in the very next game, by winning one of those points destined for YouTube. Shelton, sprinting to his left, knifed a forehand cross court on an angle so sharp that most players would have watched it on its way, protractor in hand. Not Alcaraz. From five feet outside the doubles alley, the defending champion slid into a backhand drop shot, and placed the ball just over the net. Shelton ran for it, only to break into a wide smile when he realized he had no hope of getting there. Alcaraz pulled back to 3-3, won the next three games and went two sets up. He thought he was somewhere between 15 and 40 minutes away from getting on with the rest of his evening and his tournament. Time to move. Shelton had other thoughts. He broke Alcaraz once more, stealing the third set with a nifty blocked backhand return of serve that was a sign of progress for a player who has struggled in that department in the past. But Alcaraz soon yanked back the momentum again and took care of business in four, his evening delayed by three-quarters of an hour after a fun-filled afternoon. Advertisement 'We entertain the people,' Alcaraz said on court after his win. 'For me it's great having Ben around.' He would say that. The reasons to be bullish on Shelton remain. He's just 22, in his third full season on the tour. He didn't play tennis with any level of seriousness until he was about 13 and in middle school. Alcaraz had an agent and was already being talked about as a next, next, next big thing at that age. Shelton barely played junior tennis outside Florida and didn't leave the country, for tennis or even a holiday, until he qualified for the Australian Open six months after he dropped out of college as the NCAA men's individual champion in the summer of 2022. He's gotten very good, very quickly. But he knows there's a sizeable gulf between him and the top. He's 1-9 against Alcaraz, Sinner and Djokovic combined, his sole victory coming against Sinner in 2023, before the Italian became the all-conquering world No. 1 he is now. Shelton still has plenty of road for his own transformation. 'I'm not a complete clay-court player yet, I'm not a finished product,' he said in a news conference last week, after his first-round win over Lorenzo Sonego which took five sets. 'There's still things we talk about that need to improve for me to be playing at the top and giving myself opportunities to win tournaments. Even though I am making some deep runs in clay-court events now and I have a title on clay, there's just a lot of things that I'm continually trying to improve and work on,' he said. That work isn't limited to clay, and it's work Shelton is willing to do. He's a huge fan and friend of Tiafoe, but he doesn't want to sign for his career right now. Tiafoe is 27 with a horde of fans and a career of highlights, but he has struggled with motivation at times. He thought he'd have a big title by now, that he'd have the trophies to match his fame. Advertisement That's what everyone told him would happen when he shot into the top 30 at 19. He said after his win over Altmaier that he doesn't believe there is a gulf between him and the top players, that he can still win the biggest tournaments out there, even though he only has only one win against Sinner and one against Alcaraz, each coming three years ago. He's taken Alcaraz closer to the brink than Shelton ever managed, going up two sets to one against him at last year's Wimbledon. Alcaraz snuck his way to the fourth set that day, then turned on the afterburners in the fifth. 'That's not really my concern, playing the best guys in the world,' he said after Sunday's win. 'I don't fear them. I don't really feel like their level is so much better than mine. I know what I can do on a given day.' So maybe he will this tournament. Maybe Shelton will one day. Win or lose, there will be plenty of highlights as they try to climb higher still.
ABC News
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Alcaraz hands point to Shelton at French Open in act of sportsmanship
Carlos Alcaraz is such a constant ray of sunshine on court that it always seems a surprise when a darker mood descends. Yet the Spaniard was still able to win the battle with his own mind to earn his 100th tour clay court victory and advance to the French Open quarterfinals overnight. The 22-year-old subdued dangerous Ben Shelton 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier, meaning he has now lost a set in each of the last three matches of his title defence en route to the quarterfinals. They have all featured spells of familiar stellar quality but also careless patches — "dumb mistakes" as Alcaraz dubbed them — that have begun to irritate him even if, in truth, they've never looked like derailing him. "Honestly, today I fought against myself in the mind," Alcaraz said. "I just tried to calm myself. In some moments I was mad. "I was angry with myself, talking not good things. I'm happy that I didn't let that thought play against me. "I tried to calm myself and tried to keep going." He did keep going and the crowd couldn't have loved him more, especially when he owned up that one seemingly amazing winner he had hit should not count. He had flung his racquet out at full stretch to get to a Shelton passing shot and, miraculously, pulled off what looked to everyone like a winning volley. He was awarded the point, but admitted to the chair umpire that his hand wasn't holding the racquet and got a rousing ovation from the crowd for his sportsmanship. "I would have felt guilty if I didn't say anything," Alcaraz said. "It's just about the respect we have against each other." Alcaraz, after 19 wins in 20 clay-court matches this season now, will be hot favourite to get past his next obstacle too, even though 12th seed Tommy Paul looked a potentially troublesome quarterfinal foe as he outclassed Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. The first American man to reach the French Open quarterfinals in 22 years since Andre Agassi, Paul loves pitting himself against the Spaniard and had beaten him a couple of times, though Alcaraz won their last encounter at Roland Garros in the Olympic quarterfinal. "I remember that every match I've played against him he was really tough," Alcaraz said. "In grand slams, Masters 1000s, all tournaments I've played against him it wasn't easy at all. His level is really high right now. "I'll try to keep going, trying to be better. I'll try to learn from the mistakes I made today. I'm not going to make the same against Tommy." Frances Tiafoe was another American to make the last eight, defeating German Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). AAP
