Category News

French Open 2025

Location: Roland Garros, May 25 – June

In a sensational French Open semi-final between two title contenders, world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.

On a blustery Court Phillippe Chatrier on Tuesday, Sabalenka defeated China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 in a tight quarter-final.

Swiatek from Poland then defeated Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5, to win the final four match.

In October of last year, Sabalenka, a Belarusian, replaced Swiatek, who is currently fifth overall.

The pair have met 12 times, with Swiatek leading 8-4 in a straight-aison encounter. However, since the US Open semi-finals of 2022, they have not met in a major.

Sabalenka is competing for her first Paris trophy, while Swiatek has won four of the previous five Roland Garros titles.

“Aryna has a game for every surface,” Swiatek said, “so I need to focus on myself, do the work, be brave in my shots, and just go for it.”

Sabalenka is the player to beat at the French Open despite Swiatek’s recent dominance.

She has won three titles this year, including one on the Madrid clay, and has now advanced to two finals, extending her lead.

But Madison Keys’ three-set defeat in the Australian Open final was so troubling that she is now attempting to redress it.

Zheng’s optimism was palpable. In May, she broke her six-match losing streak to Sabalenka on the Rome clay and won the match.

However, Sabalenka’s 18 errors were the difference, with Zheng making just 39% of her points after her second serve with 31 unforced errors.

Sabalenka’s game, the wind, and finding herself in the early break in the first set bothered her, but she managed to maintain a 4-4 lead.

The top seed repeatedly rallied from 0-30 down in her service games to keep the second set close in the final tie-break, dominating the outcome with a long-whipped forehand from Zheng.

Before Zheng’s worst game of the match, Sabalenka ran out 4-3 winners, the pair exchanged breaks.

With Zheng serving the match at 40-0, Sabalenka’s quality showed up as she hammered winners past her rival to win the match as quickly as possible.

“That was a real battle,” Sabalenka said, “I have no idea how I was able to regain control of that first set.”

A win over Elena Rybakina in the fourth round, with Swiatek coming back from a set and a break down, would have greatly improved your confidence.

Although the scoreline suggested the first set was closer, Swiatek’s break was inevitably inevitable.

Swiatek, one of the top scorers, broke five games in a row to deflate Svitolina before winning the first of three of her opening contests.

Svitolina, who has added more attacking to her game since returning from maternity leave, opened the scoring with a 3-1 run early in the second set through some strong hitting.

However, in the following game, Swiatek resurrected and capitalized on a sluggish Svitolina service match to regain the break lead before serving the match.

At Manchester United, things have been busy over the past few days.

It has been a whirlwind return from their troubled post-season tour of Asia, from agreeing to sign Matheus Cunha, speaking with Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, learning that Bruno Fernandes won’t be joining Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, and receiving a £5 million payment.

After United head coach Ruben Amorim stated in Hong Kong on Friday that he believed his captain would stay at the club, Fernandes spent some time pondering the Al Hilal offer.

The 30-year-old wanted to talk things through with his family because, after all, the amounts offered were truly staggering and could not be ignored.

Many United employees anticipated Fernandes’ departure at this point last week. We are now certain that he won’t.

Amorim said something else that struck a chord with him, which he felt was lost in Fernandes.

I questioned Amorim if he knew what his squad should look like when pre-season training began at the start of July because it would be impossible to nail him down on specifics and individuals.

“Yes”, he said. What we want is something I know for sure.

We are a little constrained, as you may well know, and can’t do it all in a single summer. However, the picture is crystal clear of what we want.

The original plan was to target younger, hungry players who could improve, and it still holds as a guide.

In order to address the problematic left-wing berth, Denmark international Patrick Dorgu, 20, signed for Lecce for a £25 million deal in February. Ayden Heaven, an 18-year-old central defender for Arsenal, did the same.

Even though both players were in a struggling team, they both made promising contributions.

However, there is no time for development for some issues because they require urgent attention.

And Amorim genuinely wanted to intensify his attack.

Last year, Cunha and Mbeumo combined scored 35 league goals. It was 21 prior to the campaign.

Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee were not able to demonstrate them in England before signing for United for a combined fee of almost £110 million in the summers of 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The signing of Mason Mount from Chelsea in 2023 is evidence that United had not completely ignored the domestic market before, and two signings alone may suggest a significant shift away from buying from abroad.

However, buying players who are aware of the difficulties ahead reduces some of the risk.

Former United skipper Gary Neville told Sky Sports, “I believe they are players who can come in and hit the ground running.”

In the past ten years, new signings have found it very challenging to work at United. Both Caunha and Mbeumo have played a lot of games and won the Premier League.

“When I watch Manchester United’s wide players, they must be able to move quickly from box to box and move both with and without the ball.” Both Mbeumo and Cunha can accomplish that because they both have a clear goal in mind.

“The players who are going to leave play in smaller spaces and are more jinkers.”

From a financial perspective, Amorim remained steadfast in Hong Kong and argued that United could work around Fernandes’ staying at Old Trafford.

However, the situation is complex.

Finances will be tight because there won’t be any future European football. Sales are inevitable because Amorim has already stated that he can operate with a smaller squad given the number of games.

There are three categories, in general.

The likes of Sancho, Antony, Marcus Rashford, and Alejandro Garnacho are just some of the players Amorim simply doesn’t want.

Hojlund and Zirkzee, as well as Casemiro, are players who have had a difficult time and make sense of selling.

The majority of players are players who have something to offer, and United would be willing to keep them but would step down if the right offer was made.

However, the main concern is about how much and how long would it take to reach a deal?

Take, for instance, Sancho.

He was not willing to accept the reduced terms Chelsea had agreed to give him, as it is now known.

It is reasonable to assume that most other Premier League clubs will come to the same conclusion if Sancho is balking at Sancho’s wages as a newly qualified Champions League team.

United will have to reach a compromise if Sancho declines to drop his demands and Amorim withdraws him.

They are now forced to pay a player to play for a rival, which is uncomfortable. It’s the kind of situation that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a minority owner, finds so obnoxious and wants to end.

However, it’s difficult to avoid that scenario when you consider Sancho, Antony, and Rashford in particular. Many United players who played for the club last season could be at the same level.

Although the matches may have ended, the hard work is only just beginning for United’s technical director Jason Wilcox and chief negotiator Matt Hargreaves.