Latest news with #wildcards
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
French Open recap: Topsy-turvy tennis comebacks, speedy second serves and two wild card wins
Welcome to the French Open briefing, where will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament. On day one at Roland Garros in Paris, another up-and-down match for Diana Shnaider ended in the right result, a home favorite came back from the brink and two U.S. wild cards made good on their potential. A rising talent comes out on the right side of a topsy-turvy comeback this time Diana Shnaider's matches are rapidly becoming appointment viewing. Advertisement The Russian world No. 12 has always been an entertaining player to watch, but things have really ramped up over the past couple of weeks. In her previous match, at the Italian Open earlier this month, Shnaider fought back from 4-0 down in the opening set against home favorite Jasmine Paolini to pinch it on a tiebreak. She then led 4-0 herself in the second set, but struggled with a stirring home crowd and lost six games in a row. Shnaider again led in the third set, but then lost another six games in a row to lose the decider and the match. Fast forward a couple of weeks to the French Open and Shnaider is at it again. In her first-round match on Sunday against Ukraine's Anastasiia Sobolieva, Shnaider raced to a 5-0 lead but promptly lost the next six games. Then, when up 0-40 to take the set into a tiebreak, she twisted her ankle and required a medical timeout. Sobolieva won the next three points when she returned, but Shnaider managed to take the set to a tiebreak still, which she won. Once all that was over with, the Russian won the second set a lot more comfortably. Advertisement Who knows what awaits in her next match, a second-round encounter with Dayana Yastremska, also of Ukraine. A home hope finds inspiration behind a bullet serve Having recently lost six straight ATP Tour matches, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard looked to be heading to another defeat on Sunday. The French world No. 37 was broken in the very first game of his match against Belgian world No. 50 Zizou Bergs, and lost the opening set 6-4. But Mpetshi Perricard, the No. 31 seed here who was looking for his first win at his home Grand Slam, dug in and sealed the second set with a 132 mph second-serve ace. Not for nothing is the 6 feet 8 inches 21-year-old considered the most powerful server in the men's game. Advertisement Mpetshi Perricard then looked down and out when trailing 5-0 in the third-set tiebreak, but reeled off seven straight points to pinch it. The noise of the roar on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, with the roof on, was extraordinary. In a dramatic fourth set, Mpetshi Perricard failed to serve out the match at 5-3 but broke immediately afterwards to seal it, forgetting the missed opportunity. As he put it in his post-match news conference: 'It means it's an amazing memory. Now it's already in the past.' No wonder Mpetshi Perricard doesn't want to focus on the past — his future is likely to include a third round against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz if he can get past Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur. Two American wild cards make good on their potential The tennis federations of France, the U.S. and Australia have their own methods of handing out the wild card that each provides to the other for its respective Grand Slam. Advertisement The U.S. has a nothing-for-free policy, tracking the rankings points for its players during a set period of weeks ahead of each of the Slams. Iva Jovic and Emilio Nava won those races for this major and landed in the main draw of the French Open. The performances Sunday were an argument for meritocracy. Both won their first round matches. Jovic, who is just 17, beat Renata Zarazua of Mexico in three sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. Nava, who is 23 and, like Jovic, hails from Los Angeles, knocked off Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 to make the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time in three years. For Jovic, that's old hat by now. She advanced to the second round in the U.S. Open in September and in Australia in January. Frances Tiafoe gets another chance to talk about the end of Rafael Nadal It was either fitting or ironic that while Rafael Nadal was wrapping up his farewell news conference, Frances Tiafoe, the guy who ended his U.S. Open career, was starting his. Advertisement Tiafoe, who notched a tighter-than-the-score-suggests 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over Roman Safiullin of Russia on Court Suzanne-Lenglen said that the Big Four's obsession and love for the sport has always awed him. 'They have an insane amount of drive and determination to just be great,' Tiafoe said. 'The amount of love they have for the sport is impeccable.' Tiafoe's signature win came against Nadal at the 2022 U.S. Open, a fourth-round upset in Arthur Ashe Stadium that transformed him from a tennis player into a pop culture figure. With a wry smile, he said Nadal hadn't talked to him much since then. 'All of a sudden, like, it was a respect thing of I got to fear this guy a little bit,' he said. 'I don't think he was too stressed out. It was pretty cool to see the competitive side of him.' Advertisement Tiafoe said he was just happy to have gotten a chance to play Nadal Federer, Djokovic and Murray, and especially Nadal and Federer on Ashe. 'To be able to say I played them on the biggest stage in tennis,' he said, 'that means a lot to me and my family. I don't take that for granted.' French Open men's draw 2025 French women's draw 2025 Tell us what you noticed on the first day… This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Independent Singapore
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Independent Singapore
Three-time champion Stan Wawrinka and veteran Richard Gasquet awarded with French Open wild cards
Photo: Stan Wawrinka, who won three major tennis titles back then, and French veteran player Richard Gasquet were part of the eight men who were given special invitations, also known as wild cards, to compete at this season's French Open. 40-year-old Wawrinka achieved his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2014. Furthermore, he then went on to win the French Open title in 2015 and the US Open in 2016. Moreover, Richard Gasquet will be having his final French Open appearance. The 38-year-old athlete from France was once ranked No. 7 in 2007, and was deemed as one of the promising athletes who might win a Grand Slam. Unfortunately, he never managed to reach a final stage, only making it to the semifinals twice–Wimbledon and at the US Open. Regardless of this, he had a successful tennis career, having won 16 ATP Tour titles and played a key role in helping France win the Davis Cup in 2017. List of wild cards for the French Open Men's singles (main draw) Name Country Terence Atmane France Arthur Cazaux France Richard Gasquet France Pierre-Hugues Herbert France Emilio Nava United States Valentin Royer France Tristan Schoolkate Australia Stan Wawrinka Switzerland Women's singles (main draw) Name Country Destanee Aiava Australia Lois Boisson France Elsa Jacquemot France Leolia Jeanjean France Iva Jovic United States Chloe Paquet France Diane Parry France Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah France Other tournament updates Jannik Sinner is now back on the court and making a strong comeback at the Italian Open. He defeated Argentina's Mariano Navone with a final scoreline of 6-3, 6-4 in his first match since the suspension. This win was added to Sinner's winning streak, now having 23 matches. Alongside his impressive performance at the Italian Open, which highlighted his determination and resilience as an athlete, his Italian home crowd also welcomed him back with so much joy and excitement. The Italian tennis star said the support he got from the home crowd was the best he's ever felt. Among the 10,500 fans cheering for him were his parents, who watched as the crowd welcomed him with loud cheers. After his win, Sinner wrote 'Che bello' (which means 'How beautiful') on a camera lens as a small gesture to show his happiness and thankfulness to his fans. Read related: Jannik Sinner enjoys awaited comeback with a hard-fought victory at the Italian Open Moreover, Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the Italian Open and will enter the Roland Garros without a single win on this year's clay season. The athlete has previously won the French Open three times. Read related: Novak Djokovic withdraws from the Italian Open, days before the French Open
