Latest news with #Frenchman
Express Tribune
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Express Tribune
Djokovic shines at Roland Garros opener
Novak Djokovic made a clinical start to his latest pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title at the French Open. Photo: AFP Novak Djokovic made a clinical start to his latest pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title at the French Open on Tuesday, while women's contenders Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva successfully got their campaigns under way at a windy Roland Garros. The 38-year-old Djokovic had little trouble in seeing off 98th-ranked American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, three days after becoming only the third man to win 100 ATP titles with his victory in Geneva. "I don't know how many more Grand Slams I've got left in my body," said Djokovic, seeded sixth and playing in Paris for the first time since winning Olympic gold last August. "I'm just trying to enjoy every moment in this magnificent stadium." The three-time French Open champion lost his opening matches in both Monte Carlo and Madrid earlier in the clay-court season, but was dominant against McDonald, with his only hic-cup coming when he failed to serve out the second set in the eighth game. The Serb, who withdrew injured before the quarter-finals in 2024, will meet a Frenchman in either Corentin Moutet or Clement Tabur in round two. Djokovic is on the same half of the draw as world number one Jannik Sinner and last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev, who saw off American teenager Learner Tien 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. World number three Zverev is hoping to go a step further than 12 months ago when he lost the final to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets, his third defeat in as many Grand Slam finals. His preparation has been far from ideal after his plane was struck by lightning on the journey to Paris following a last-16 loss in Hamburg. The 19-year-old Tien, who knocked out Daniil Medvedev en route to the Australian Open last 16 in January, was overpowered on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Zverev, who has reached at least the semi-finals in each of the last four French Opens, will next face Dutchman Jesper de Jong. Former US Open champion and five-time Grand Slam runner-up Medvedev was dumped out in the first round for the sixth time in Paris, losing a dramatic clash with Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5. Grigor Dimitrov retired injured for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament, calling it quits due to a leg injury when leading American Ethan Quinn by two sets to one. Ninth seed Alex de Minaur, a quarter-finalist at each of the past four majors, started well with an accomplished 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) win over Serbia's Laslo Djere. Miami champion Jakub Mensik came through an entertaining match against Frenchman Alexandre Muller, repeatedly taunting the home crowd during a 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-3 victory. Gauff, Andreeva impress In the women's draw, 2022 runner-up Gauff brushed aside Australia's Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2. Gauff, the 2023 US Open winner, has not won a tournament since last year's WTA Finals but reached the finals at both Madrid and Rome this month. The 21-year-old American has reached the quarter-finals or better in each of her past four visits to Roland Garros. "I knew it wasn't going to be a clean match with how windy it was," said the second seed, who initially forgot her racquets which had to be collected by a ball boy. "Honestly, it was two different matches depending on which side of the court you were on." Rising Russian star Andreeva is eyeing her maiden Grand Slam crown after WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells and recovered well after falling 3-0 down to Spaniard Cristina Bucsa in the first set. The 18-year-old quickly overturned the double-break deficit and eventually cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the world number 98. "With time I played better and better, so I felt like closer to the end of the match was playing good, not like in the beginning," said the sixth seed. Andreeva, who reached the semi-finals last year, will play American Ashlyn Krueger in the second round on Thursday. Third seed Jessica Pegula also made serene progress with a 6-2, 6-4 success against Romania's Anca Todoni as the American returned to Roland Garros after missing the 2024 edition due to injuries. Two-time former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka hammered Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, who will retire after Wimbledon, 6-0, 6-0 on Court 6, while Magdalena Frech knocked out three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur.
Metro
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Metro
Enzo Maresca names surprise Chelsea star as 'one of his favourite players'
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca surprisingly named right-back Malo Gusto as 'one of his favourite players' after the Conference League final. Gusto produced an awful performance and was hooked at half time as he struggled to deal with a number of Real Betis stars in Chelsea's 4-1 win. The Frenchman recently admitted that he was 'far away' from where he should be as a footballer. Maresca picked Gusto in his starting XI against Betis – with Reece James on the bench – in a decision which left the Chelsea captain 'devastated'. Speaking after the match, Maresca defended Gusto despite his 'mistake' in the first half which led to Betis' opening goal on nine minutes. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. 'Malo Gusto is one of my favourite players but the goal we conceded was from his pass,' Maresca told TNT Sports. 'They are young players, after a mistake it doesn't matter and you have to continue. But after the mistake, he was out of the game. He knows that, and he's a top player.' Speaking to L'Équipe ahead of the Conference League final, Gusto said: 'In [my] first season [at Chelsea], everything was beautiful and rosy, everything went well. This year has been a lot more difficult. 'Especially from a personal point of view, for different reasons. It has allowed me to learn, especially to understand what my priorities should be. 'I am very far away from where I should be. It is my responsibility.' Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho scored one of Chelsea's four goals against Betis but Maresca insists no decision has yet been made on his future. Chelsea agreed to sign Sancho permanently for around £25m when they signed him on loan from Manchester United last summer. But they are able to cancel the agreement by paying their Premier League rivals £5m in compensation and reports suggest that remains a possibility following Sancho's mixed spell in west London. Quizzed about Sancho after the Conference League final win, Maresca said: 'I said yesterday in the press conference. From now on we are going to sit with the club and decide what happens for next year. More Trending 'If we finish fourth [in the Premier League] it is also because of Jadon, if we win tonight it is also because of Jadon. It is normal in a season to go a little bit up and down, it is part of the game.' West Ham forward Michail Antonio, working as a pundit for TNT Sports, added: 'I think Chelsea should sign Jadon Sancho. 'He has been an important factor to the squad, and in parts of the season he has been the catalyst for the team. 'I think he would be a good signing and would help them to keep pushing next season and what is to come.' MORE: Liam Delap agrees to join new club after Man Utd and Chelsea offers MORE: Joe Cole sends message to Chelsea over Jadon Sancho transfer from Man Utd MORE: Arsenal make transfer U-turn and plan to sign £54m star after Martin Zubimendi
Qatar Tribune
6 hours ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Urging China, EU cooperation, former WTO head Pascal Lamy points to ‘common ground'
Agencies Against the backdrop of tariff negotiations between the United States and various countries, there is 'common ground' on which China and the European Union can work together and ensure that mutual and open trade remains a rules-based game, according to a former head of the World Trade Organization. 'We should do what China did to us 30 years ago,' Pascal Lamy told the Post on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UBS Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong, with the message being: 'Welcome to the EU, provided you produce here.' Chinese investment in electric vehicles is the kind of investment that the EU wants, added the Frenchman, who is now coordinator of the Jacques Delors think tank network based in Paris. The other common interest that China and the EU share is their decarbonisation drive, because 'the direction of travel' between both sides is the same and 'there is a lot of cooperation capacity there', he noted. However, he added that China was not 'moving rapidly enough' by still relying heavily on coal amid its decarbonisation push. Lamy's comment came as the world has been grappling with uncertainties introduced by US President Donald Trump's tariff policies since his return to the White House in imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs against almost all trading partners in April and threatened last week to slap 50 per cent tariffs on the EU from June 1, though he later postponed the implementation date to July 9. The US is engaged in tariff negotiations with a number of economies. Earlier this month, Washington reached a deal with Beijing, with both sides agreeing to pause most tariffs imposed since April 2 for 90 days. But Lamy reckoned that the likelihood of major trading partners getting the 'best scenario' – meaning a proper trade deal – out of their tariff negotiations with the US would be 'low', because this is not 'the mindset' of Trump. 'He's looking for an unbalanced deal,' Lamy said, as in: ''I threaten you, and you pay to remove the threat' – this is not a balanced deal. This is mafia-like hostage-taking.' On Friday, at a conference hosted by the Centre for China and Globalisation in Beijing, a group of ambassadors, including the EU's, called for an overhaul of the world's multilateralism systems to immediately address the political and economic chaos unleashed by Trump. 'You need enough coordination to increase the efficiency of countermeasures now,' Lamy said on Wednesday, echoing their sentiment. 'Trade works with an international division of labour. The countermeasures of China and the countermeasures of the EU – if they are to do that – are complementary.' There can be a 'united front' for making sure that the World Trade Organization works, for the moment, without the US, according to Lamy, who said he believed in globalisation. 'How can they send a signal together that would rally other countries multilaterally – we stick to the notion that trade opening is a rules-based game,' he added. 'It's more difficult if China does it by itself,' he explained, noting how doing so would be perceived by a number of countries as 'anti-US' action. 'If you and China do it together, then you remove the sort of reluctance that some countries would have, and you send a signal [that is] important for the future, which in my view has value for the world economy.' Given the size of the US economy, and its 'relatively' high level of imports compared with exports, Lamy explained that Trump believes 'he has a weapon' to wield in the negotiation process. But Lamy said that the chances of the EU accepting an unbalanced deal in the face of Trump's tariff threat 'are very low'. Meanwhile, Lamy said that trade talks between the US and EU were independent from US-China talks, as Trump is 'hitting bilateral relationships'. 'Where [the trade talks] are not independent is with the fact that, if China exports less to the US, China will export more elsewhere, and this may have a knock-on effect on the EU-US and EU-China relationships,' he said. Amid heightened geopolitical uncertainties, Beijing has been trying to forge closer ties with European economies. President Xi Jinping urged greater cooperation with Germany last week in his phone call with Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Also last week, French President Emmanuel Macron said he and Xi spoke by phone and agreed to move quickly to resolve a trade dispute over cognac tariffs. In April, Chinese sanctions on five members of the European Parliament, and on the parliament's subcommittee on human rights, were lifted. Speaking on China's overcapacity issue, which has been a long-standing concern among the European bloc, Lamy said China needed 'to address the root cause of underconsumption'. 'The root cause of underconsumption is over-saving, and the root cause of over-saving is the non-existence of a proper social security system – education, pension, health,' he explained. 'The price that Chinese households pay for a service is too high because of not enough competition.'
Japan Today
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Japan Today
Giro leader Del Toro hits back with stage 17 triumph
Isaac Del Toro bows in celebration after winning the 17th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling Overall leader Isaac del Toro bounced back from the disappointment of seeing his advantage slashed by storming to a brilliant victory on stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia on Wednesday. The Mexican saw his lead cut from 1 minute, 20 seconds to just 26 seconds in stage 16, but attacked on the Le Motte climb before powering away from Romain Bardet and Richard Carapaz in the final two kilometers. Del Toro celebrated his maiden Grand Tour stage victory with a bow and is now 41 seconds ahead of Ecuadoran rider Carapaz overall, with Simon Yates 10 seconds further back. It was a spectacular response from Team UAE's Del Toro, who timed his surge to victory to perfection at the end of a mountainous 155-km ride to Bormio in the Alps. "It's incredible, everybody wants this and today I realized I will never give up," he said. "I will always stay one step in front, and I will always try... I don't have anything to lose and today wasn't easier than yesterday but for sure I had a better mentality." The 21-year-old finished three seconds clear of Frenchman Bardet and six seconds ahead of pink-jersey rival Carapaz to extend his general classification lead. Yates, who started the day in second overall, was cut adrift by Del Toro's attack, which only Carapaz could initially follow, and crossed the finish line nine seconds behind. It was heartbreak for Bardet, who will retire in two weeks' time, as he came up just short in his latest bid to complete a hat-trick of stage wins on every Grand Tour. "As is often the case at the Giro, this is my fourth second place in four participations," said the 34-year-old, who led on his own until being caught by Del Toro and Carapaz. "I did my best. It's definitely a shame because I had everything in place to win, but you can't control the behavior of the other teams. I'm proud of this last appearance in a Grand Tour." Thursday's 18th stage is a hilly 144-km route from Morbegno to Cesano Maderno in Lombardy. © 2025 AFP
Japan Today
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Japan Today
Opponents of French players at the French Open deal with insults and whistling and, yes, even gum
FILE - France's Arthur Rinderknech participates in the wave with fans during a first-round match against Italy's Jannik Sinner in the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) tennis By TOM NOUVIAN and HOWARD FENDRICH In all sports, there are advantages to being at home. At the French Open tennis tournament, being a visitor playing against a French player can feel as though the whole world is against you. The crowds don't just cheer. They boo, they whistle, they make noise between serves, they hurl insults — and, at least once, even gum — at the locals' opponents. That sort of behavior is why the tournament organizers banned alcohol from the stands last year, a policy still in place. Some of the non-French athletes who deal with that sort of negativity in Paris, such as 19-year-old Jakub Mensík of the Czech Republic, who eliminated Alexandre Müller in front of a rowdy crowd at Court 14 on Tuesday, compare the high-intensity atmosphere to that of a soccer game. Others choose stronger terms. 'Disgusting. Worst experience of my life,' was what Nicolás Jarry of Chile said this week when asked to think back to last year's rowdy loss at Court Simonne-Mathieu to France's Corentin Moutet, whose coach had implored the spectators to make life 'hell' for Jarry after the two had a contentious meeting in Santiago earlier in the season. Jarry blamed that on Moutet, saying that everything was calmer during his loss Monday to another Frenchman, Arthur Fils, whom the Chilean called a 'good guy' and a 'gentleman.' 'It's a battle out there, you know. Sometimes, it's not just a battle with the player,' said Novak Djokovic, who is scheduled to face the irrepressible Moutet in the second round Thursday. Expect an antagonistic atmosphere. Djokovic sure does. 'They're going to have the crowd on their side. It's nothing strange about it. It's expected,' the 24-time Grand Slam champion said. 'But it is true that here in France and in Paris, comparing to other Slams, the people are louder and more passionate and just give more support, louder support, more energy to their player, which for some (opponents) can be annoying. It's not the kind of ideal environment you want to be playing in, but you have to be ready for it.' So much for the supposed silence usually found in a tennis arena. It all raises questions about where the line between support and incivility lies. 'We've stepped up security," tournament director Amélie Mauresmo, a former No. 1 player, said before this year's event, "and given chair umpires greater power to intervene and report unacceptable behavior in the stands.' For Mensík on Tuesday, the jeers began every time he hit the ball during the warmup ahead of his 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3 win over France's Müller. More arrived once play began, accompanying each of his 20 aces or just when he simply walked to check a ball mark — a routine part of clay-court tennis. After taking the third set, Mensík gave the boo birds a little bit back, waving his right index finger as if it were a baton conducting an orchestra, a move he learned from Djokovic. 'Sometimes,' Mensík said of the crowd, 'it is too far.' Still, there are those who shrug it all off. 'That's part of tennis, especially here. My opponent had her fans here; I have mine in Belgium. It's normal," said Elise Mertens, the 24th-seeded Belgian who was a semifinalist at the 2018 Australian Open and lost Tuesday to Lois Boisson of France at Court 14. 'Fans were loud but not insulting. I didn't feel any particular hostility.' There are two sides to the loud backing French players receive. It 'makes you feel like you could reach for the stars,' said the highest-ranked French woman, Varvara Gracheva, who acknowledged that support also can become a burden. She lost in the first round Tuesday. It's been a quarter of a century since a woman representing the host nation won the singles title at the French Open ( Mary Pierce in 2000) and even longer since a man did ( Yannick Noah in 1983). 'As French players, we're under pressure all the time when we play here' said Moutet, currently ranked No. 73. 'When you lose, you 'suck.' When you win, you're 'King of the World.' So you have to try to ignore the pressure.' Nathan Fhima, an 18-year-old high school student from Paris, figured his compatriots needed his voice. So there he was this week at Roland-Garros, waving a blue-white-and-red French flag and screaming himself hoarse while skipping class to watch qualifying and first-round matches. 'We have to push them, because not much will happen otherwise,' he said after watching France's Diane Parry lose Monday. 'Maybe that noise will lift a homegrown champion to victory again. We have to believe.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
