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Straits Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
At the French Open, only one trophy but so many triumphs
Sport isn't fair, this is the plain truth, this is the deal athletes accept. Not everyone makes it, not everyone's haircut like Carlos Alcaraz's makes the news, not everyone's bank balance swells like Novak Djokovic's (US$187,086,939 or S$241,500,000, at last count), not everyone gets on centre court. Players shrug, it's OK, but what everyone desires is a chance. That's all. To be somebody. To get a shot. To be one of 128 in the French Open draw. This is harder than you think. The clay in Paris, 80 tonnes of it, comes from a single brick factory, but talent comes from everywhere and feels as omnipresent as the dust. The lowest-ranked player on the WTA Tour is No. 1,402, on the ATP Tour it's No. 2,133, and it's a suffocating, hardscrabble, physically punishing life. A player once spoke about cutting costs by sleeping in a brothel but didn't quite fully explain the economics of it. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
French Open night session snub not about quality of women's tennis, says Amélie Mauresmo
Amélie Mauresmo, the former world No. 1 who is the tournament director for the French Open, has rejected suggestions that the lack of women's matches in the Roland Garros night session tells WTA Tour players that they are not worthy of the event's primetime slot. In a confrontational news conference, Mauresmo insisted that scheduling four women's matches out of 44 on Court Philippe-Chatrier since 2021 was not a judgment about the value and quality of women's tennis. Advertisement 'It has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night,' Mauresmo said. 'It's never been this, and I will not accept that you carry this message.' Mauresmo said that the French territory television contract with Amazon Prime stipulates there being only one match in the night session. She then repeated another message of the past few years: that the potential length of the match is what matters. A three-set match could be over in two; a five-set match guarantees at least three. 'It's the length of the matches, not the level they reach,' Mauresmo said. Earlier in the week, French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Gilles Moretton said that scheduling decisions are based on 'what is better for spectators.' Advertisement Mauresmo said no female player has raised the issue directly with her, but her comments followed Coco Gauff, the world No. 2, and Ons Jabeur, the three-time Grand Slam finalist, discussing the importance of giving women the chance to showcase their talents in front of the widest possible audience. 'It's still sad that we are still seeing this,' Jabeur said in a news conference. 'I keep standing by my words. In Europe, in general, it's unfortunate for women's sports. Not for tennis but for in general. I hope whoever is making the decision, I don't think they have daughters, because I don't think they want to treat their daughters like this.' 'I do think that women's matches are worthy of a night spot,' said Gauff, who often plays at night at the U.S. Open in front of some 24,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She said French Open organizers could solve the problem by starting earlier and having two matches at night rather than one, as both the U.S. and Australian Opens do, as well as other top mixed tournaments. Advertisement 'From my experience playing at US Open, night match at 7 p.m. with Novak (Djokovic) following me, and he's the greatest player of all time, people were almost just as excited to see me play as him,' Gauff said. Jabeur also noted the circularity and the self-fulfilling outcome of having limited women's matches in the best slots. 'They don't show women's sport, they don't show women's tennis. Of course they watch men more because you show men more. Everything goes together. It's a shame from the Federation, a shame from the Prime,' she said. She noted how Naomi Osaka and Paula Badosa had played an epic three-set match that lasted nearly two and half hours in the first round, a duel between two high-profile players that could have carried a night session. Osaka played a similar match in the second round last year against Iga Świątek. Both matches took place in the day session, but Osaka's encounter with the four-time champion went on so long that it was getting dark when they were done. Advertisement 'A lot of great matches, they should have been there,' Jabeur said. Mauresmo told reporters to 'ask her on Sunday' about the topic, and a French reporter suggested putting the all-French encounter between wild cards Lois Boisson and Elsa Jacquemot in the slot Saturday, during the Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter. She said that the night sessions are sold out to Chatrier's capacity of 15,000, with the seats filled from early in the first set. She suggested that would not be the case if the session started earlier with a women's match, partly because of French work schedules. That is rarely an issue in Melbourne and New York, with spectators who have paid serious money for prime tickets not wanting to miss out. Ken Solomon, the former chief executive of the Tennis Channel, which used to be the U.S. broadcaster of the tournament, said he had raised the issue during his tenure. In part, that was to see if high-profile Americans like Gauff might play at night because it is the afternoon in the U.S., even if that meant scheduling two women's matches for the night session. Solomon said that there was no interest in doing that from either the WTA Tour or the tournament. Advertisement Like every other broadcaster, TNT, the current U.S. broadcaster makes suggestions and expresses preferences but ultimately the French Tennis Federation (FFT) makes the final call. The last time women played at night on Philippe-Chatrier was in 2023, when current world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka played Sloane Stephens in the quarterfinals. Asked whether she personally had an issue with the decision to schedule exclusively men at night since then, Mauresmo declined to answer. 'I would like to change the subject,' she said. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Sports Business, Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
UPI
4 days ago
- Sport
- UPI
Gauff, Pegula, Sinner sweep into third round of French Open
1 of 5 | Coco Gauff beat Tereza Valentova in straight sets in the second round of the 2025 French Open on Thursday in Paris. Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo May 29 (UPI) -- Coco Gauff needed 75 minutes to oust her third-round foe, while Jessica Pegula and top-ranked Jannik Sinner were among other top tennis players to advance to the third round Thursday at the 2025 French Open. Gauff, the No. 2 player in the WTA Tour singles rankings, struggled with her serve, but still converted 8 of 13 break point opportunities in the 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 51 Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic on Thursday in Paris. She totaled 23 unforced errors and nine forced errors, compared to Valentova's respective 33 and 18. Gauff will meet No. 47 Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic in the third round. The winner will face No. 46 Veronika Kudermetova or No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova, both of Russia, in the fourth round. Bouzkova beat No. 56 Sonay Kartal of Great Britain in straight sets in her second-round match. Kudermetova upset No. 15 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Alexandrova swept No. 89 Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy. Pegula, ranked No. 3, beat No. 55 Ann Li of the United States in straight sets. She totaled 23 unforced errors and 14 forced errors in the 6-3, 7-6(3) victory. Li, who edged Pegula 4-1 in aces, totaled 33 unforced errors and 27 forced errors. Pegula will battle No. 96 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the third round. Vondrousova beat No. 26 Magdalena Frech of Poland in her second-round match. "It was a really tough match today," Pegula said. "Ann has been playing some really good tennis this year and had a lot of close matches with good players. It was tricky with the wind. She was slicing a lot, kind of making me earn a lot of points. "I felt like it was a pretty physical match, a lot of long points and long games. But happy I was able to kind of hold on to that second set there definitely." No. 7 Madison Keys and No. 70 Hailey Baptiste were among the other American women to advance at the clay-court Grand Slam. No. 6 Mirra Andreeva of Russia and No. 10 Paula Badosa of Spain were among the other top women's players to win second-round matches Thursday at Roland-Garros. Sinner and No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany were among the top men to advance. Sinner dispatched No. 166 Richard Gasquet of France in straight sets. He totaled 27 winners, 20 unforced errors and 20 forced errors in the 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 match, which lasted nearly two hours. The Italian will face No. 34 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic in the third round. Gasquet, who played the final match of his career, totaled 2029 unforced errors and 35 forced errors. "It's obviously a very special place for me to play," Sinner said. "Against Richard, we already played last year here, it's always very tough. I'm generally very happy to be in the third round. Thank you guys [fans] for making it fair." No. 62 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the day, beating No. 9 Alex de Minaur of Australia 2-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in a 2-hour, 52-minute match. No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti, No. 10 Holger Rune of Norway and Americans No. 12 Tommy Paul (No. 12) and Ben Shelton (No. 13) will be among the top men's players in action Friday in Paris. No. 16 Frances Tiafoe will meet fellow American Sebastian Korda (No. 23) in another third-round match. No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 4 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, No. 5 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 7 Zheng Qinwen of China, No. 14 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and No. 16 Amanda Anisimova of the United States will be among the top women in singles matches Friday at Roland-Garros. Third-round French Open coverage will start at 5 a.m. EDT Friday on TNT and Max. Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka win second-round matches at French Open Second-seeded Coco Gauff of the United States plays against Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic during their second-round match of the French Open at Stade Roland Garros in Paris on May 29, 2025. Gauff won 6-2, 6-4. Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Injured Ruud criticises 'rat race' ATP points system
Norway's Casper Ruud has criticised the ATP's ranking system by describing it as "like a rat race" which forces players to compete with injuries. Ruud, a two-time runner-up at the French Open, suffered a second-round exit on Wednesday, losing 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 to Portugal's Nuno Borges. The seventh seed won the first set comfortably, but struggled towards the end of the match with a knee injury that he has been carrying since April. "It's been with me actually the whole clay season on and off," he said. "As we know, it's a hectic clay season, and I decided to kind of push through it doing some anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers to try to get rid of it, which has helped to a certain degree but not enough. "I will have some more time now to let it heal and rest for a long time." Ruud said it is difficult to take time off on the ATP Tour to allow an injury to heal. "It's kind of like a rat race when it comes to the rankings as well," he said. "You feel you're obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP have set up with the mandatory events." BBC Sport have approached the ATP for comment. The ATP and the women's WTA Tour have mandatory requirements, meaning players must appear at a set number of tournaments each season. The top-ranked ATP players are required to participate in eight of the nine mandatory Masters 1,000 events each year, with Monte Carlo the only exception. Ruud missed Monte Carlo - the first big clay-court event of the season - but he played at the Italian Open in Rome after winning his first ATP Masters title in Madrid. The world number eight also feared that he would miss out on defending ranking points, which are used to decide where a player is seeded and whether or not they can gain direct entry into a tournament. "You feel like you lose a lot if you don't show up and play, both economically, point-wise, ranking-wise and opportunity-wise," Ruud added. "It's a questionable system because on one hand you don't want to show up injured, and you maybe give the spot to another one." Live scores, results and order of play Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Raducanu outclassed by Swiatek at French Open
Emma Raducanu's miserable record against Iga Swiatek continued as she was outclassed by the defending champion in their French Open second-round meeting. The British number two was beaten 6-1 6-2 on the Paris clay and has now lost all five of her matches against the five-time Grand Slam winner. It was another reminder of the gulf that still exists between 41st-ranked Raducanu and the leading players on the WTA Tour. After being unable to convert a break point in the opening game, 22-year-old Raducanu quickly lost her way as fifth seed Swiatek rattled off five games in a row. Raducanu's second serve was placed under serious pressure and her groundstrokes became increasingly ragged as the 23-year-old from Poland secured the opening set in 35 minutes. Swiatek, who has won four of the past five Roland Garros titles, is known as the 'Queen of Clay' because of her formidable record here and quickly moved a break ahead at 2-1 in the second set. After a below-par clay-court swing, though, there are some questions about her level and they resurfaced when Raducanu threatened to break back immediately. But Swiatek managed to maintain her intensity under pressure - one of the key differences between players of her status and Raducanu - to save three break points in a lengthy fourth game. Raducanu, who was sick before her opening match on Monday, began to run out of steam and lost the final three games with little resistance. Alcaraz overcomes blip to progress - but Ruud exits Looking at the bigger picture, Raducanu has made encouraging strides over the past three months. The 2021 US Open champion has climbed back into the world's top 50 after an injury-hit couple of years, showing progress by reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals and the Italian Open last 16. That has been a benefit of playing with more freedom since appointing Mark Petchey as her coach in an "informal" arrangement in March. Against Swiatek, though, she was unable to do that. While a more rigid approach was caused partly by Swiatek's depth of return and ability to change angles, Raducanu's ball-striking was also well below her best. Sticking in the rallies with Swiatek was a tough task and demonstrated how difficult Raducanu still finds returning ball after ball against the intensity of the top stars. It was a similar story against American world number two Coco Gauff on the Rome clay earlier this month. While Raducanu has undoubtedly made progress with her resilience, the fact she has only won three of her 14 career matches against top-10 players indicates she still has further to go. Clay is not her natural surface, it must be remembered, and beating Swiatek on the red dirt is one of the most difficult challenges in the game. Raducanu will now turn her attentions to the grass-court season, starting with a home WTA tournament at Queen's, which starts in less than a fortnight. Live scores, results and order of play Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
