FRENCH OPEN
Serena set to take advantage of open draw at French Open
Serena Williams continues her latest bid for an elusive 24th Grand Slam singles crown on Wednesday (June 2) at a French Open now without two of the world’s top three-ranked women’s players.
The 39-year-old Williams has already seen two of her likeliest title challengers, who have both beaten her in Major finals in recent years, either fail to start the tournament or pull out in unprecedented circumstances.
World No. 3 Simona Halep, the 2018 Roland Garros champion who defeated Williams a year later in the Wimbledon final, withdrew before the event with injury.
The biggest story of the French Open so far has undoubtedly been world No. 2 Naomi Osaka’s shock withdrawal after a press boycott, saying she has been suffering with “bouts of depression” since her breakthrough victory over Williams in the controversial 2018 US Open showpiece match.
Serena, who has been one short of Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Slams since winning the Australian Open four years ago, faces Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu on Wednesday in the second round.
The American, seeded eighth, saved two set points in the first set of her opening win over Irina-Camelia Begu – the first ever Roland Garros night match.
“I have to say it was pretty cool to be able to play the first night session ever here at Roland Garros. That was something I thoroughly enjoyed,” said Williams, who is back on Chatrier but during the day session against Buzarnescu.
That means she will play in front of a crowd for the first time this week, as the night sessions are currently being played behind closed doors due to the French government-imposed 9pm curfew.
“I wasn’t sure why there wasn’t a crowd,” said the three-time French Open champion.
“I guess it was because there’s curfew at 9. It’s definitely a little different. Ironically enough night sessions are not my favourite matches, but I do have a good record at it.”
In the men’s draw, second seed Daniil Medvedev will be hoping to back up his first-ever French Open win by going deep into the tournament.
The two-time Grand Slam runner-up is in the half of the draw without any Grand Slam champions – with Dominic Thiem dumped out at the first hurdle and Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all in the opposite side.
The Russian, who had lost in the opening round on all four of his previous appearances, will face Tommy Paul of the United States for a place in round three in the evening match.
“My opponent can see I was really feeling good,” said Medvedev after his straight-sets victory over Alexander Bublik.
“I actually played much better in practice still than today, so there is room for improvement.”
Despite Medvedev’s loftier ranking, Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is probably the favourite to reach the final from the bottom half.
The 22-year-old lost an epic five-set semi-final in Paris last October to Djokovic and also made the last four of the Australian Open in February.
Tsitsipas has been in excellent form on clay this year, winning the Monte Carlo Masters, the ATP event in Lyon and reaching the Barcelona Open final, where he lost to Nadal despite holding a match point.
He will take on 103rd-ranked Spaniard Pedro Martinez in round two.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, German sixth seed Alexander Zverev faces Russia’s Roman Safiullin, while promising youngsters Casper Ruud and Jannik Sinner play Kamil Majchrzak and Gianluca Mager respectively.
-AFP
Venus Williams will compete in doubles at the French Open later this month, organisers confirmed on Wednesday.
Williams, 45, will partner with Hailey Baptiste, 24, for the clay-court tournament at Roland Garros, which begins on May 24 in Paris.
Williams, however, will not compete in the singles tournament.
She was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open, where she lost in three sets during the first round to Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.
Williams is a former World No. 1 in both singles and doubles. She has won seven Grand Slam titles in singles and 14 in doubles, including the French Open in doubles in 1999 and 2010.
-Reuters
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Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
“It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there’s a lot going on in our country right now with things — like, everything, yeah. I’m sure you guys know,” she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
“But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don’t feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.”
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump’s first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities.
“I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) ‘just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for’.
“So that’s what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
“Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I’m definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I’m proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.”
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
-Reuters
Paris St Germain forward Ousmane Dembele got a roaring welcome usually reserved for tennis champions when he carried the freshly-won Champions League trophy onto centre court on Monday.
The French soccer club beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the showcase match in Munich on Saturday to clinch the trophy for the first time before the players and staff got a heroes’ welcome in the French capital on Sunday.
The festivities for Dembele, who was voted the Champions League Player of the Season, continued on Monday when he carried the shiny trophy onto Court Philippe Chatrier in front of more than 10,000 people.
He was wearing a white T-shirt with the word “triumph” written on it.
Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele presents the Champions League trophy on the Philippe-Chatrier court before the fourth round match between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Cameron Norrie REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Organisers could not have timed the brief ceremony better, with Europe’s most prestigious soccer club trophy arriving minutes after world number 361 and wild card Lois Boisson of France stunned third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in three sets to reach the last eight in the upset of the tournament.
“Ici c’est Paris, (This is Paris)” shouted Dembele as the normally more reserved afternoon tennis crowd erupted with cheers.
“Exceptional, it was a magic moment in Munich. We played an exceptional season and were rewarded with our first European Cup,” France international Dembele told the crowd.
“The individual titles are fine but it is the collective titles that matter. We will try to win as many titles as possible.”
Novak Djokovic, the 24-times Grand Slam champion and three-times winner in Paris, was on court later for a straight sets win over Briton Cameron Norrie and he was quick to congratulate the Paris club, having joined in PSG’s Sunday festivities.
“An incredible season for PSG so congratulations to all Parisians,” the Serb said after his 100th career win on the Roland Garros clay. “It was amazing to be there yesterday.
“Two days ago during the game I was playing and it was a bit complicated to get to my hotel afterwards, complicated being an understatement. The roads were quite the show.”
PSG are only the second French side to win the European Cup after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
-Reuters
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