Latest news with #CourtPhilippeChatrier
The Independent
08-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Coco Gauff dedicates emotional French Open triumph to ‘Americans who look like me'
Coco Gauff dedicated her victory in the French Open final to 'people that look like me' in the United States and said she hopes it will bring 'hope and light' to those who do not feel supported in the country. The 21-year-old won her second grand slam title as she battled from behind to win a dramatic three-set final against the World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, mastering difficult conditions to win her first Roland Garros. Gauff's victory came three years after she was thrashed 6-1 6-3 by Iga Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final, a defeat that left an 18-year-old Gauff in tears during the trophy ceremony. The American was emotional as the national anthem was played on Court Philippe-Chatrier as she lifted the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for the first time. 'It means a lot, and obviously there's a lot going on in our country right now with... like, everything,' Gauff said 'But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period. 'Just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.' Gauff said she felt a similar source of motivation when she won the WTA Finals towards the end of last season, which after the November reelection of US President Donald Trump. 'I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt [like a] down period a little bit,' Gauff said. 'My mom told me during Riyadh, '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 [the trophy]. And then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. '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.' Gauff said she went through a 'tough time' after her French Open final defeat in 2022 but said she felt ready to triumph in the Roland Garros final having become a grand slam champion when she defeated Aryna Sabalenka to win the US Open in 2023. 'I just remembered that ceremony when Iga won, I just remembered trying to take it all in and pay attention to every detail and just feel like I wanted that experience for myself,' Gauff said. 'So when the anthem got played, I vividly remember watching her, pretty emotional when the Polish anthem got played. I was, like, 'Wow, this is such a cool moment'. 'So when the anthem got played today, I kind of had those reflections. It was a tough time. I was doubting myself, wondering if I would ever be able to circum it, especially my mentality going into that match. 'I was crying before the match and so nervous, and literally couldn't breathe and stuff. I was, like, If I can't handle this, how am I going to handle it again? 'Then obviously US Open happened, which credit that reaction, and now I just felt really ready today. I was, like, I'm just going to leave it all out there, and regardless of what happens, I can leave proud.' Gauff also thanked for her parents for their support after she climbed up into the stands to hug them after winning match point. 'I think sometimes we hear crazy stories about tennis parents and all that, and I can say I don't relate to that,' Gauff said. 'I asked my dad to take a step back, and he did, and it ended up being a great thing for both of us. 'My mom, I've asked, I needed her to be on the road more. I have my physio, but being on a team full of men, I was, like, I need some estrogen and some female energy here, so I asked my mom to go. 'Hugging them at the end. My mom was pretty emotional. My dad was just happy. My dad cried at US Open. He didn't cry here. 'But I didn't think they were going to cry, but yeah, honestly, it's just been so great to have them and be able for them to experience [this]. They put so much sacrifice into this, so I'm glad I get to experience with them.'
Washington Post
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Sabalenka rues another missed chance against Gauff in French Open final: 'This one hurts so much'
PARIS — While Coco Gauff was taking selfies on Court Philippe-Chatrier to celebrate her triumph on the Parisian clay, her opponent on the other side of the umpire's chair was filled with anger and sadness. As Roland-Garros officials prepared the court for the trophy ceremony, Aryna Sabalenka sat with her gaze lost in the distance before she took a towel and covered her face. And when it finally came time to speak, Sabalenka was silent for a long moment, as if on the verge of tears.
Washington Post
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Djokovic unsure if he will ever play again at the French Open after semifinal loss
PARIS — Novak Djokovic is unsure he will play at the French Open ever again after losing to top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the semifinals on Friday. The 24-time Grand Slam champion cast doubt on whether he will be back at Roland-Garros next year, when he will be 39. Moments after losing 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3), Djokovic took the time to put his bag down and applaud all sides of Court Philippe-Chatrier.
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
French Open recap: Why was the roof closed for Carlos Alcaraz vs. Lorenzo Musetti?
Follow The Athletic's French Open coverage Welcome to the French Open briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament. On day 13, the Court Philippe-Chatrier roof caused controversy, a strange sequence of tennis results cohered and court assignments yet again let women's tennis down. It was a beautiful afternoon in Paris on Friday, but the 15,000 fans and two players inside Court Philippe-Chatrier wouldn't have known it. The French Open organizers closed the roof for the first men's semifinal, between Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti, which ended up a win for the defending champion after Musetti had to retire with an injury to his left leg. Advertisement It had rained a bit in the morning, and there were some gray clouds floating around, but there was outdoor tennis going on everywhere else at Roland Garros, even on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, which also has a roof. Grand Slam tennis is supposed to be an outdoor sport. Roofs generally close when rain is imminent or after it has begun, and the Chatrier roof takes around ten minutes on its slide out over the terre battue. It's hardly a long intermission. The tournament didn't issue any official explanation for the decision, but a guide to the roof — published on the Roland Garros website in 2020 — states: 'Any match that starts with the roof closed will continue that way until the end of the match. If the weather improves and play can continue in the open air, the referee may decide to open the roof at the end of the match for the following encounter.' None of this appeared to make much sense. A quick glance at weather forecasts showed no chance of rain until Saturday morning. The gray clouds changed to fluffy white ones gently scudding across a blue sky. There was some wind, but nothing compared to the whipping air on Chatrier that greeted Musetti for his quarterfinal against Frances Tiafoe on Thursday. Any concerns about achieving parity of conditions on a changeable day would fade with the fact that French Open matches are not weighed against each other. Deliberately seeking the same conditions across any two matches would go against the nature of an outdoor event with some covered stadia, given that the entire tournament briefly becomes a two-stadium indoor clay event when it rains. The move appeared to have a major effect on the Alcaraz-Musetti match. Chatrier gets dank once the roof closes. The ball stops flying. Alcaraz's balls, which would kick up off the clay in warm, dry conditions, were sticking in the now-soft surface and now staying right in the Musetti strike zone. It's part of how he won the first set and pushed the second to a tiebreak. Advertisement When he had to retire, it was time to get the stadium ready for the night match — and to open the roof. So much for having the same conditions for both semifinals. Matt Futterman Tennis is full of strange sequences of results that don't really make any sense, especially when they traverse the rungs of the professional game. A couple of months ago, Jelena Ostapenko, who is a bit of a law unto herself, beat then-world No. 2 Iga Świątek and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka en route to winning the Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. In her next match, at the Madrid Open, the Latvian lost to compatriot Anastasija Sevastova, 35, who was playing her first WTA event for more than a year because of a serious knee injury. Sevastova duly lost her next match 6-0, 6-0 to Diana Shnaider of Russia. Lilli Tagger's win against Emerson Jones in the semifinal of the French Open girls' singles on Friday presents another circle of tennis life. In March, Tagger, a 17-year-old Austrian, picked up a straight-sets win against a similarly unheralded Frenchwoman at an ITF (the third and lowest tier of professional tennis) event in Spain. That Frenchwoman was Loïs Boisson, who was on Thursday competing in the French Open semifinal against world No. 2 Coco Gauff. Boisson was just back from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear when Tagger beat her, but it remains reminder of how fine the margins are in tennis. Most players in the top 200 to 300 have a story of beating a player who themselves beat a big name in the sport. Maybe Britain's Hannah Klugman is next in line. The 16-year-old faces Tagger in the girls' final Saturday. Charlie Eccleshare French Open organizers say that they don't discriminate against women when they schedule matches each day. They make decisions on what is in the best interests of the sport and its spectators, they say. Friday, with Court Philippe-Chatrier occupied by the men's semifinals, Court Suzanne-Lenglen and Court Simonne-Mathieu were ready to seat around 10,000 and 5,000 fans respectively. Advertisement There were three matches on Suzanne-Lenglen. First came a men's wheelchair semifinal between Tokito Oda and Martín de la Puente. Then came the men's doubles semifinals, which saw Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski beat Christian Harrison and Evan King. Court Simonne-Mathieu seats about 5,000 people. The women's doubles semifinals took place there. The second pitted Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini against Mirra Andreeva and Shnaider. That was a rematch of the Olympic women's doubles final, and the fifth instalment of a developing rivalry at the top of the game. Paolini is a two-time Grand Slam finalist in singles and she and Errani have become one of the most formidable doubles pairs in the game. Andreeva, 18, is a rising star in women's tennis and Shnaider is coming on strong. Both teams laugh their way through matches and have proven to be solid drawing cards when they play at big events. The match didn't turn out to be very good, with Errani and Paolini winning 6-0, 6-1. On paper though, putting this match on the smaller court was a bit of a head-scratcher. Matt Futterman It's already been a good tournament for British players, with three men in the singles third round for the first time in more than 50 years, and three women into the second round. Last year, there were no British women or men in the second rounds at all. Friday was a good day too, with Klugman beating Bulgaria's Rositsa Dencheva to become the first British junior to reach a singles final at the French Open in 49 years. A winner of the prestigious Orange Bowl junior championship, Klugman is looking to make it two girls' Grand Slams out of three for the Brits, after Mika Stojsavljevic's U.S. Open win in September. Elsewhere, Salisbury and Skupski beat King and Harrison on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to reach the men's doubles final. Salisbury has won four men's doubles Grand Slams, all on hard courts, while Skupski is a former Wimbledon champion. Neither has won Roland Garros — nor has any Brit in men's doubles or singles in the Open Era. They take on Argentina's Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers of Spain, the No. 5 seeds, in Saturday's final. Charlie Eccleshare Tell us what you noticed on the 13th day…
The Independent
06-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Carlos Alcaraz to defend French Open title in final as Lorenzo Musetti retires
Carlos Alcaraz will defend his French Open title on Sunday after Lorenzo Musetti retired from their semi-final. Italian Musetti won the first set and was playing some exquisite tennis under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier. But the 23-year-old had treatment on his leg during a one-sided third set and called it a day after Alcaraz won nine games in a row with the score 4-6 7-6 (3) 6-0 2-0. There were echoes of a match here four years ago when Musetti retired against Novak Djokovic at 4-0 down in the fifth, later saying he was not injured but that he quit because he was 'not able to win a point'. Alcaraz, who will bid for a fifth grand slam title on Sunday, said: 'It is never great getting through like this. 'Lorenzo is a great player. He has had an incredible clay season. He's one of the few players who has achieved the semi-finals. I wish him all the best and a quick recovery. 'The first two sets were really tough. I had chances to break his serve in the match and I couldn't make the most of it. 'He was playing great tennis. When I won the second set, there was relief. In the third I knew what I had to do – pushing him to the limit and trying to be aggressive. 'I was more calm and I could see this more clearly and I could play great tennis.' An exciting match looked on the cards when at 5-4 Musetti, who had not previously threatened the Alcaraz serve, suddenly broke to take the first set. Alcaraz served for the second set but the tension he was feeling was palpable as Musetti broke straight back. However, Alcaraz reset in the tie-break and, although Musetti saved two set points, he dumped a third into the net. Musetti planted his hand onto his face after a bad miss handed the initiative to Alcaraz, who grabbed the early break in the third. Suddenly the shackles were off for Alcaraz while Musetti was labouring, winning just five points as the set disappeared over the horizon. The eighth seed had received treatment on his left leg but was still clearly hindered and when Alcaraz broke for 2-0 in the fourth, he decided he had had enough.
