Latest news with #all-French
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Djokovic makes winning start to French Open bid
French Open 2025 Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app Novak Djokovic began his latest bid for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam singles title with a commanding win over Mackenzie McDonald. The former world number one ended his wait for a 100th ATP singles title in Geneva last week and maintained his recent upturn in form with a 6-3 6-3 win over the 98th-ranked American. Djokovic - who turned 38 last week - has now won all 21 of the first-round matches he has played at Roland Garros. Sixth seed Djokovic will next play the winner of the all-French match between Corentin Moutet and Clement Tabur. 'I think I deserve a diploma' - Norrie stuns Medvedev 'OK, no racquets...' - but Gauff still progresses Azarenka through with 48-minute 'double bagel' win Djokovic arrived in Geneva without a win on clay in 2025, having suffered first-round exits in both Monte Carlo and Madrid. But with his wait for a 100th Tour-level title finally over - one which had gone on since he completed the career 'Golden Slam' at the Paris Olympics last summer - the Serb will feel he is beginning to gain real momentum on this surface. The one-sided victory over McDonald, completed two minutes short of the two-hour mark, was his fifth successive win following a run of three straight losses. After that unfamiliar slump in results, Djokovic took the decision to end his six-month partnership with coach and former rival Andy Murray, who he said joked this week that he was winning tournaments now he had "a proper coach". Djokovic faces a tough route to the trophy. He is projected to meet third seed Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, world number one Jannik Sinner in the last four and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final. But it is ultimately that pursuit which continues to drive him on in the twilight of his career, with one last record - surpassing Margaret Court for the outright number of Grand Slam singles title - still left to break. Djokovic lost serve just once in the entire match and hit 32 winners compared to just 20 unforced errors. Elsewhere on Tuesday, Germany's Zverev beat American Learner Tien 6-3 6-3 6-4. Britain's Cameron Norrie could face Djokovic in the fourth round after stunning Russian 11th seed Daniil Medvedev 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5. Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur was another winner, beating Serb Laslo Djere 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8-6). Live scores, results and order of play Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
India Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
Novak Djokovic off to solid start at Roland Garros, confident of better show in Paris
Novak Djokovic delivered a near-flawless performance in his opening-round match at the French Open 2025. The Serbian star, a three-time champion in Paris, outclassed World No. 98 Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in a commanding display on Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday, 27 needed just 1 hour and 58 minutes to wrap up the straight-sets victory, firmly announcing his arrival in Paris. He extended his perfect first-round record at Roland Garros to 20-0, having not lost a single set in opening-round matches at the clay-court Slam since World No. 6 will next face the winner of the all-French clash between Corentin Moutet and Clment Tabur. French Open 2025: CoverageDjokovic, who lifted his 100th career title last week in Geneva, appears to be rediscovering form following a challenging clay-court swing this season.'It was a solid match. I know he can play to a higher level than he did today, but I'm very pleased with my own performance,' said Djokovic after the his confidence growing and early signs of rhythm returning, Djokovic remains a strong contender for the big was at his best in his service games, riding on recent form. The Serbian fired seven aces and won 81 percent points on his first serve. More impressively, Djokovic was flawless with his second serves too, winning 71 percent points on
Mint
23-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Billionaire Drahi Knows the Art of the Deal
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Patrick Drahi is on a roll. The billionaire telecoms entrepreneur struck a deal to cut borrowings at Altice France SA in February, lifting the cornerstone of his business empire out of negative equity. Now he's considering cashing in the company's main asset — France's SFR mobile-phone network. A quickfire disposal would be bittersweet for the bondholders who just agreed to rescue Drahi from the mire. Drahi warned in March last year that Altice France's €24 billion ($27 billion) of net debt was unsustainable and creditors would have to take losses. Back then, net leverage was more than six times profit as measured by earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization. The equity value was zero or less. A restructuring is set to cut net borrowings to just over €15 billion when it completes later this year, with subordinated creditors taking the biggest haircuts. The primary compensation? A 31% stake in the business for the senior creditors, 14% for the juniors. Drahi retained control with the rest. But the value of that equity could be about to become deliciously clear. With the ship stabilized, Drahi can consider a full or partial sale of SFR from a position of strength. It's certainly an opportune moment to do so. European regulators may be becoming more tolerant of mobile markets consolidating around three players. The UK is allowing Vodafone Group Plc to swallow up UK rival Three, for example. An all-French deal here would likely require SFR to be carved up in varying chunks to Bouygues SA, Iliad SA and Orange SA, as Bloomberg Intelligence suggests. Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. may also evaluate a transaction, Bloomberg News reported. Price might be a bigger stumbling block than regulators. A deal could value SFR at as much as €30 billion, Bloomberg News reported. Even if that included Altice France's stake in the XpFibre network, possibly worth around €2 billion, it would still represent a chunky eight times the €3.5 billion Ebitda that CreditSights research reckons the business could be making come 2027 — not outlandish but high. CreditSights' base-case valuation multiple is five, rising to seven with a takeover premium and potentially higher in a deal with domestic synergies. A transaction at the lower end of the range seems more achievable. That would also be a good comeback: A €22 billion deal would ink €7 billion of equity value, with nearly €4 billion accruing to Drahi. A quick flip of SFR at a strong price would, of course, benefit creditors, given their stake. But it also raises an embarrassing question. Shouldn't they have resisted a restructuring deal and sought to take control of Altice France and flipped it themselves? In that scenario, they would have done even better. The snag is that there was no quick route to seizing control before 2027 when troublesome debt maturities loomed. A more combative group of bondholders might have dragged things out until that crunch point. But the creditors here are an unruly coalition of risk-averse loan funds and opportunistic hedge funds. Drahi took advantage of fears that SFR's performance could deteriorate over time, bringing everyone to the table before it was strictly necessary. If Drahi comes out on top, it looks like the junior creditors have done relatively well at the expense of their senior brethren, although cross-holdings blur the distinction. The junior debt didn't obviously have any value going into the restructuring. Its holders got their lucrative equity stake effectively to buy their consent for a deal. Had they been wiped out, they could have frustrated things with legal action. The cost of cooperation will be felt when the spoils of any SFR deal are shared. Drahi proved adept at reading the dynamics of power between him and his creditors in getting the restructuring approved. Has he read regulators' and telecom bosses' appetite for consolidation equally well? Probably, yes. More From Bloomberg Opinion: This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. Previously, he worked for Reuters Breakingviews, the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper. More stories like this are available on
Perth Now
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Aussies shine to set up European club rugby final duel
Australian rugby stars - including three former Wallabies now thriving overseas - have excelled in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup to set up a showdown in Europe's top club event. Pete Samu, the 33-time capped Wallaby, went over for a glorious early try as Union Bordeaux-Begles ended Toulouse's two-year unbeaten run in the tournament, brilliantly winning the all-French battle 35-18 victory at the Matmut Atlantique on Sunday to reach the final for the first time. In the final later this month, Bordeaux-Begles, also featuring ex-Australia lock Adam Coleman, will play English side Northampton, who were propelled to a famous, unexpected and rather epic 37-34 victory over Irish favourites Leinster in Dublin on Saturday. The 'Saints' emerged triumphant with five tries, including one from their popular Australian fullback James Ramm, while former Wallabies' back-rower Josh Kemeny shone and Angus Scott-Young came off the bench to help them become the first English finalists since Exeter won in 2020. The five Aussies will do battle in the final on May 24 in Cardiff's Principality Stadium as Northampton seek to end French Top 14 clubs' recent domination of the title. It won't be easy for Northampton with Bordeaux-Begles having looked mightily strong in kayoing the six-time champions with tries from Samu, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Pierre Bochaton and Ben Tameifuna, while Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu impressed with valuable booted points. Toulouse, who'd been unbeaten since losing in the 2023 semi-finals to Leinster, responded with two tries from Dimitri Delibes and Pierre-Louis Barassi but were crucially weakened by the absence of the injured Antoine Dupont, Blair Kinghorn, Thomas Ramos and Peato Mauvaka. "They had a 10-minute spell of domination and we did not crack. We're so happy to qualify in front of our fans as we've been through very tough moments," said Jalibert, referring to Toulouse's 59-3 win against UBB in last season's Top 14 final. The 33-year-old veteran Tasmanian lock Coleman, capped 38 times by Australia, is of Tongan descent and now playing his international rugby for the Pacific Island. He only lasted 28 minutes after failing a head injury assessment following his tackle on Julien Marchand. On Saturday, Sydneysider Ramm, the former Waratahs wing who played just once for Australia's under-20s but hasn't yet played played a senior international even though he's eligible for New Zealand, England and the Wallabies, was a stand-out at 15. Kemeny, who played at the last World Cup for the Wallabies, was also in fine form in the back row battle but did receive a late yellow for a high shot on Rabah Slimani that forced the Saints into an almighty backs-to-the-wall struggle to eke out their three-point win.
West Australian
04-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Aussies shine to set up European club rugby final duel
Australian rugby stars - including three former Wallabies now thriving overseas - have excelled in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup to set up a showdown in Europe's top club event. Pete Samu, the 33-time capped Wallaby, went over for a glorious early try as Union Bordeaux-Begles ended Toulouse's two-year unbeaten run in the tournament, brilliantly winning the all-French battle 35-18 victory at the Matmut Atlantique on Sunday to reach the final for the first time. In the final later this month, Bordeaux-Begles, also featuring ex-Australia lock Adam Coleman, will play English side Northampton, who were propelled to a famous, unexpected and rather epic 37-34 victory over Irish favourites Leinster in Dublin on Saturday. The 'Saints' emerged triumphant with five tries, including one from their popular Australian fullback James Ramm, while former Wallabies' back-rower Josh Kemeny shone and Angus Scott-Young came off the bench to help them become the first English finalists since Exeter won in 2020. The five Aussies will do battle in the final on May 24 in Cardiff's Principality Stadium as Northampton seek to end French Top 14 clubs' recent domination of the title. It won't be easy for Northampton with Bordeaux-Begles having looked mightily strong in kayoing the six-time champions with tries from Samu, Louis Bielle-Biarrey (2), Pierre Bochaton and Ben Tameifuna, while Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu impressed with valuable booted points. Toulouse, who'd been unbeaten since losing in the 2023 semi-finals to Leinster, responded with two tries from Dimitri Delibes and Pierre-Louis Barassi but were crucially weakened by the absence of the injured Antoine Dupont, Blair Kinghorn, Thomas Ramos and Peato Mauvaka. "They had a 10-minute spell of domination and we did not crack. We're so happy to qualify in front of our fans as we've been through very tough moments," said Jalibert, referring to Toulouse's 59-3 win against UBB in last season's Top 14 final. The 33-year-old veteran Tasmanian lock Coleman, capped 38 times by Australia, is of Tongan descent and now playing his international rugby for the Pacific Island. He only lasted 28 minutes after failing a head injury assessment following his tackle on Julien Marchand. On Saturday, Sydneysider Ramm, the former Waratahs wing who played just once for Australia's under-20s but hasn't yet played played a senior international even though he's eligible for New Zealand, England and the Wallabies, was a stand-out at 15. Kemeny, who played at the last World Cup for the Wallabies, was also in fine form in the back row battle but did receive a late yellow for a high shot on Rabah Slimani that forced the Saints into an almighty backs-to-the-wall struggle to eke out their three-point win.
