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USA Today
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Ben Shelton's French Open run ends in Round 4 against Carlos Alcaraz
Ben Shelton's French Open run ends in Round 4 against Carlos Alcaraz Ben Shelton made his first trip to the fourth round at Roland-Garros over the weekend, but he ran into a buzzsaw in World No. 2 and reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday. Shelton stole a set, delaying a relatively easy win for Alcaraz by 45 minutes, 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. The former Gator played the Spanish phenom evenly for most of the first two sets, losing the tiebreak in the first and a late break point in the second. Shelton broke Alcaraz twice in the third set before falling in the fourth and final set. Despite the loss, it's the best Shelton has felt coming out of a match against Alcaraz, who now holds a 3-0 lead in the head-to-head series. 'The most pressure that I thought I've applied," Shelton said. "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.' Alcaraz showed some love for the former Gator after the match as well. Both are 22 years old, but Alcaraz has four more years of pro experience. They are both considered future stars of the sports, with Shelton playing catchup after taking the collegiate route to develop. 'I think we played really complete tennis, with the drop shots, coming to the net, big shots, he stayed there the whole match," Alcaraz said. "It's great having Ben around in these matches, it's great energy for the people. I love watching him play. I want to appreciate the moments I shared with him today.' Even though Shelton didn't make it into the quarterfinals or further at the French Open, his Round 4 appearance is an improvement on last year's Round 3 exit. He's already taken a step forward in half of the year's Grand Slams, making the semifinals at the Australian Open in January. Wimbledon (Round 4 in 2024) is up next at the end of the month, and the US Open (Round 3 in 2024) at the end of August. With the results of the French Open, he'll jump back up a spot to the No. 12 spot in the world, tying a career-high ranking set in March. Shelton's next step is to begin competing with the Alcarazs and Jannik Sinner's of the world. He won't hold a top-10 ranking without beating top-10 talent. Shelton begins his grass court season in June with possible appearances in Germany (Stuttgart), Great Britain (London) and Spain (Mallorca) before Wimbledon. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
SEC changes fines for field and court storming if schools don't enact safety measures
SEC changes fines for field and court storming if schools don't enact safety measures The SEC conference has officially changed its policy on field and court storming events ahead of the 2025-26 academic year, according to conference commissioner Greg Sankey in his final press conference at the league's spring meetings. According to his announcement, violations of the SEC's access to competition area policy will incite a flat fee of $500,000, instead of the escalating fee schedule set in 2023. However, the caveat is that if schools allow visiting teams and officials to exit the field of play before fans rush the field or court, a fine will not be handed out. "We'll welcome your celebration," Sankey offered. "Let's let the team, the visiting institutions depart." The commish noted that the increased frequency of court and field rushes in the past three years invoked "meaningful conversation" about a policy change. "If you are the one rushed, no matter how problematic the situation is, if it's only the first time on campus, it's $100,000," he said. "It may be a lot more. So the motivation was field rushing is field rushing, the first time or the 18th time. We'll offer an outlet of a delayed field rush where (we) let the visitors exit, let the officials exit. Then you go. That goes to zero." Sankey said that in order to avoid the fines, there must be a no-interaction "period" between a visiting team and the rushing team's fans. The $500,000 fee will continue to go to the visiting team if incurred. If the field or court storm happens during a non-conference game, Sankey said the fine will continue to go to the conference's post-graduate scholarship fund. In a May 28 press conference, Sankey said football field storms could be harder to police than basketball, which he still called not easy. "I don't think any of it is easy," Sankey said. "It has to be done with intent." Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
University of Florida student-athletes set numerous academic records in Spring 2025
University of Florida student-athletes set numerous academic records in Spring 2025 The University of Florida continues to lead the way in both collegiate academics and athletics, as evidenced by the recent news from the registrar. This spring, a few overall and team grade point average records were set. More than 400 student-athletes earned a 3.0 or higher GPA for the fourth-straight semester, and the collective 3.42 GPA by Gators reached an all-time high, replacing the 3.39 GPA set in the fall term of 2024. During the 2023-24 academic year, 75 members across all of Florida's athletics programs graduated with a bachelor's degree, while another 17 earned a graduate degree; 33 graduated with honors. The five programs that set or equaled GPA records this past semester were baseball (3.26), football (3.48), gymnastics (3.73), lacrosse (3.67) and men's track and field (3.08). UF Student-Athlete Spring 2025 Semester Highlights 18 programs earned a 3.0 or better spring semester GPA 18 programs earned a 3.0 or better cumulative GPA Overall Male Term GPA – 3.35 Overall Male Cumulative GPA – 3.31 Overall Female Term GPA – 3.51 Overall Female Cumulative GPA – 3.48 (New Record) 4.0 spring 2025 GPA by 54 student-athletes Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida football's star QB DJ Lagway will start throwing soon after an injury layoff
Florida football's star QB DJ Lagway will start throwing soon after an injury layoff There have been many questions surrounding Florida football's starting quarterback DJ Lagway coming into the spring that have been mostly focused on a pair of injuries he is apparently recovering from after last season's run. However, the program has been mum about the specifics, leaving the media and fans to speculate on his status. Some clarity on the issue came on Saturday after the Gators' annual Orange and Blue game — the final intrasquad scrimmage that represents the end of the spring practice season — when coach Billy Napier noted that his prized play-caller is expected to resume throwing activities within the next week or so. "DJ's doing great," Napier offered after the scrimmage. "He'll start throwing here in a couple weeks. But, yeah, just in general, very positive there. The lower body stuff is good and I think he's been able to do that and I think we're working on just kind of getting him in position for the next step but in general, there are a lot of positives. Everything's on schedule." The expectation is that Lagway will be ready for the organized team activities planned for June as well as the fall camp ahead of the 2025 campaign. Of course, only time will tell if he is truly ready for the next gridiron grind. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
28-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ben Shelton jumps back to World No. 14 after loud Australian Open
Former Florida tennis star Ben Shelton is one of the young American stars in the sport, and he's back up to No. 14 in the ATP rankings following a semi-final loss to top-ranked Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open on Saturday. It's not quite a career-high mark after spending two weeks at No. 13 last year, but Shelton hasn't been ranked inside the top 15 since a disappointing finish at the US Open in September. In fact, it's Shelton's best Grand Slam finish since a semi-final appearance at the 2023 US Open. Although he failed to advance beyond the fourth round at all four majors last season, he still had a consistent and healthy year inside the top 25, including 12 weeks at No. 14 overall. Ben Shelton at the 2025 Australian Open Shelton cruised to the round of 16, dropping just two sets across three wins. He beat No. 15 Lorenzo Musetti in four sets to advance past the round of 32 and qualified for the quarter-finals after No. 41 Gael Monfils retired in the fourth set of a battle. Monfils and Shelton went to a tiebreak in each of the first three sets, but a bad back forced the Frenchman to call the match after nearly three hours of play. Shelton defeated Lorenzo Sonego in four sets to return to the semi-finals. He pushed Sinner to a tiebreak in the first round of the matchup but lost the next two sets 6-2. Sinner ultimately won the tournament, defeating Alexander Zverev in straight sets. Novak Djokovic retired in the other semi-final to set up the trophy game. What's next for Ben Shelton? There are no 1,000-level events in February, but Shelton usually plays a few tournaments back in the Americas to keep fresh for Indian Wells and Miami in March. The Dallas 250 is next week, and Shelton finished in the semi-finals there last year, so look for him to make a run. The Acapulco 500 is another option at the end of the month. He made the quarter-finals there last year. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
