Category Sports News

French Open 2025

Location: Roland Garros, May 25 – June

Richard Gasquet took a significant step forward with just one small step, Jannik Sinner’s.

The Frenchman’s playing career came to an end when he defeated Gasquet, 38, 6 (6) 6-4, to win the match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Nearly 30 years after Gasquet’s famous terracotta court performance was first brought to the attention of the country, Roland Garros’ terracotta courts served as a fitting setting for the sentimental farewell.

His ravishing backhand will be Gasquet’s lasting legacy. His success will be largely determined by the joy his signature shot brought, especially to the adoring French public, not by Slam wins.

Gasquet’s backhand was ranked as the fifth-best single-hander of the Open era by Tennis.com in 2023.

It referred to it as possibly “the most visually appealing one-handed backhand drive of that time.” Only the top three scorers, Stan Wawrinka, Ken Rosewall, Justine Henin, and Federer, outnumber Gasquet.

When the then-President of the French Tennis Federation, Lionel Faujare, compared a 15-year-old Gasquet to Mozart, not without reason.

It was difficult to live up to the billing standard.

When he was 12 years old, he defeated Rafael Nadal in the junior Les Petits As competition, but the result was 18-0 in Nadal’s favor. Novak Djokovic had a 1-13 record against him and Roger Federer had a 2-19 record.

Tatiana Golovin and Gasquet won the senior mixed doubles at Roland Garros as teenagers in 2004 and the French Open and US Open junior singles titles.

He won 16 ATP titles, a Davis Cup with France in 2017, and an Olympic doubles bronze medal at London 2012, and he also won two Grand Slam semi-finals, including two at Wimbledon.

He successfully argued that he was unknowingly contaminated after kissing a woman, known as Pamela, in a Miami nightclub after testing positive for cocaine in March 2009.

He placed seventh in the world rankings, matching Federer’s record-setting ATP victories in 24 straight seasons.

Franck Ramella, the tennis writer and biographer for L’Equipe, writes:

He seems content with his career, I believe. because he never claimed to be the champion of the world.

He never lived up to what others had hoped for him to be. The expectations were what made things complicated for him.

There was a lot of hope,” he said. There’s a sort of failure syndrome [in French tennis] because we’ve been waiting for a men’s champion since Yannick Noah [in 1983] at Roland Garros. So we put a lot of faith and intensity into it as soon as someone can win. He had a strong faith in France.

After the Champions Cup final, Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot received a two-week ban for altercation with Northampton’s Henry Pollock.

After the final whistle blew, Poirot’s side won 28-20 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium, and the England and Lions flanker was charged with grabbing the England and Lions flanker’s throat.

The final two games of Bordeaux’ regular season will feature Poirot.

Poirot “accepted that he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card,” according to European Professional Club Rugby, the tournament’s organizer.

Four weeks was chosen as the appropriate entry point, according to a statement added: “The independent disciplinary committee upheld the complaint and determined that the offending was against World Rugby’s sanctions.”

The British number two’s attempts to join the elite’s of the world, according to Mark Petchey, Emma Raducanu’s coach, are impacted by heavier tennis balls, among other factors.

Iga Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion, defeated Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday, toppling Raducanu.

The US Open champion from 2021 is ranked 41st in the world and has only won one of her nine professional matches against top-five players.

It’s difficult on Emma from my perspective because I still believe everyone will live in 2021, Petchey, who has been coaching Raducanu since March under an “informal” arrangement.

“The games have drastically changed,” Petchey asserted.

He continued, “Emma isn’t the biggest hitter out there, and the balls are four times heavier than back in 2021,” exaggerating further to make the point that he was making an exaggeration.

You’re going to get into trouble if you can’t put the ball through the court against someone like Iga on a windy, heavy clay court day.

Former British number one Andy Murray, age 18, was trained by Petchey for 10 months in 2006 to help him reach the top 50, and Raducanu was trained during the pandemic summer of 2020.

In their coverage of Roland Garros, he is combining his coaching duties with his work as a pundit for TNT Sports.

Petchey remarked, “She needs to start closing the gap between the best players,” since I started helping Emma.

She doesn’t need me to choose between 20 and 50 in the world, and she needs to make the right choice if I don’t.

You are beginning your career now, in my opinion. Everyone is making judgments about what transpired in 2021, but in reality, I want to see you launching a career in this country where no one else will ever hear about it.

Since Nick Cavaday left as a full-time coach in January for health reasons, Raducanu has not had a full-time coach.

Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios are just two of the tennis players who have expressed concerns about the weight and speed of their balls recently.

Players are forced to adapt to various types of balls throughout the season, even for the Grand Slams, because tournaments are not required to sign their own contracts and balls from different manufacturers are far from identical.

Since 1902, Dunlop has supplied the balls for the Australian Open, while Slazenger balls have been used at Wimbledon. Wilson’s balls are currently used in the French Open and US Open.

The ATP Tour’s official ball is Dunlop, a contract that runs until 2028.

Many players believe that fluffy balls, which become more heavy and slow, cause more injuries, but the organizers are now using them to promote longer rallies.

However, there are strict rules governing the types of balls allowed in professional competitions.

A ball used in a game must weigh between 56g and 59.4g according to the International Tennis Federation’s regulations. Since 2000, the required weight range has changed from 56.7 to 58.5 grams.

The maximum change in mass allowed during play is 0. 4g, according to the same rules.

Additionally, the balls must pass a number of other tests, including durability, bounce, deformation, and how it changes shape during a game.

After other Premier League clubs learned of his desire to move to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are now in the forefront of the transfer market for Ipswich striker Liam Delap.

Delap has a £30m release clause, and Manchester City also has a buy-back option, according to reports from Everton, Newcastle, and Nottingham Forest.

The 22-year-old, who originally signed for Manchester City for up to £20 million last summer, was given permission to speak to interested clubs this month.

Before his team’s final Premier League game, Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna stated that “Liam is looking at his options for next year, which I think he is entitled to do, and we support him.”

Stamford Bridge is now understood to be Delap’s first-choice destination.

Delap has a chance to add to his one-game appearance with Manchester City in 2022 after winning the UEFA Conference League trophy on Wednesday night at the end of last week’s qualifying round for the Champions League.

Delap started 32 games for Ipswich last season and scored 12 goals.

Ipswich, who finished 19th in the table at the end of the season, are interested in signing Chelsea striker Marc Guiu on loan to replace Delap.

Heimir Hallgrimsson, the head of the Republic of Ireland, says he is hopeful Seamus Coleman will make it to the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, but that he must make a decision about his future.

Coleman, 36, a thigh injury, made him unavailable for the squad’s friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg next month.

Hallgrimsson believes his captain has a role to play in the nation’s bid to win their first World Cup since 2002 despite Coleman making just five Premier League appearances between the years 2024 and 2025.

The Icelander told reporters on Thursday, “You can’t have his experience in many players,” and he is a leader in this squad.

His leadership prowess and experience are two things, but his player quality is another.

It’s unfortunate for me and, of course, the national team, to not have him around because he’s been playing at the highest level for so long. But he’ll probably find a second chance, and that’s probably just the off-season, where he’ll be fit and flie.

Coleman’s contract with Everton is set to expire this summer, but Toffees boss David Moyes has stated his desire to keep the full-back.

Hallgrimsson added, “I know he’s going to be at Everton in whatever role, maybe a little more leadership role, but it’s up to him to decide whether or not he wants to play.”

He will decide, but I’m hoping he will continue playing, as the Evertonians are hoping.

Sammie Szmodics will miss the Senegal and Luxembourg games on June 6 and 10 due to an ankle injury.

Szmodics returned from a three-month absence following ankle surgery and made a late appearance off the bench in Ipswich’s defeat by West Ham last weekend.

We were anticipating that he would be ready, Hammergrimsson said of Szmodics, who has been taken over by Brighton’s Andrew Moran.

He played, I believe, 10 to 15 minutes of his final Ipswich game, but after that, his ankle grew swollen, so we decided it’s no longer worth it.

With matches against Hungary and Armenia and Portugal joining the four-team group, the Republic of Ireland kicks off their World Cup qualifying campaign in September.

Hallgrimsson insists that he is happy to have another opportunity to evaluate his squad before beginning the qualifiers.

“It’s been a difficult window for Ireland in the past because it didn’t play for a month and then went to the national team camp to play a game that might not be played on a regular basis.”

Matt Doherty (Wolves), Nathan Collins (Brentford), Dara O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Jake O’Brien (Everton), Andrew Omobamidele (Nottingham Forest), Liam Scales (Celtic), and Robbie Brady (Preston) are the defenders.

Jason Knight (Bristol City), Killian Phillips (St Mirren), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Jack Taylor (Ipswich), John Joe Patrick Finn (Reims), and Andrew Moran (Brighton) are the midfielders.

Despite recurring episodes of a niggling Achilles injury, Glasgow head coach Franco Smith is confident that Huw Jones will be fit for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia this summer.

The center will miss Friday night’s Warriors’ United Rugby Championship semi-final against the Stormers in Scotstoun.

Smith has confirmed that Jones was sidelined for two months following Scotland’s Six Nations campaign.

It occasionally flares up, according to Smith, and it’s “just too close to the game to recover.”

“It was preferable to schedule the call earlier in the week so that we can be best prepared while also ensuring that you can recover quickly, hopefully as soon as possible.”

He needs to be managed for the entire season. That issue is exactly the same one that has flared up since he left the Six Nations.

Our medical team is working hard to ensure that he is back home as soon as possible.

Before departing for Australia, the Lions play their first warm-up game against Argentina in Dublin on June 20. Smith tempered concerns that Jones might not be able to play.

When Jones was questioned about the tour’s availability, Smith responded, “Yes, I definitely think so.”