french-open Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Dominic Thiem Got Closer, But Rafael Nadal Still Stepped On Him
Last year, in the first major final of his life, Dominic Thiem just seemed happy to be there. Flattened by a Rafael Nadal charging toward his 11th French Open title? That builds character. A dusty tennis great heartlessly roasting you at the trophy ceremony? Whatever, no shame in being outmatched....
Rafael Nadal Is Tennis Jail
“If you want to do or achieve something on the clay, inevitably, at some stage, you will go through Rafa,” Roger Federer said after his French Open quarterfinal, “because he’s that strong, and he will be there.”...
American Teen Amanda Anisimova's Singular Backhand Tore Up The Defending French Open Champ
Amanda Anisimova has a good backhand, so good as to foreclose any technical critique from the peanut gallery. She’s 17 years old and it has already been described by tennis commentators, perhaps accurately, as the best backhand on tour, and, hyperbolically, as the best of all time. I’ll leave those ...
What The Hell Are These Questions From The French Open Pressers?
Today at the French Open, No. 7 seed Sloane Stephens lost her quarterfinal match. She went to press after, only to field this question, as noted by tennis writer Ben Rothenberg:...
The Greatest Tennis Match Of The Year Was A Filthy, Hectic War
Forget the semifinals, the finals, or the shiny trophy ceremonies. The sweetest spot of a tennis major is the first weekend....
WTA Clarifies Rules, Clears The Way For Serena Williams's Catsuit And Leggings Of All Kinds
After being, uh, unsettled by Serena Williams’s “catsuit” at the 2018 French Open, French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli promised stricter apparel rules the following year, though not as austere as Wimbledon’s all-white mandate. But whatever he’s looking to do to eliminate his catsui...
Did Serena Williams's French Open Catsuit Make The French Tennis Federation President Too Horny?
One day, perhaps, female athletes will be able to compete without people scrutinizing their appearance and policing their bodies. Today is not that day. As the Associated Press first reported, Serena Williams, the greatest tennis player of all time who should be able to wear whatever she damn well p...
These Two Points Adequately Represent Rafael Nadal's Ridiculous Clay Season
Rafael Nadal won the French Open on Sunday, and there’s little new to say that wasn’t already said after last year’s title. After the preposterousness of 10, 11 doesn’t feel so different. But even into the double-digits, it’s worth remembering that the points are fucking absurd....
Simona Halep Won The French Open By Remembering How She Lost It
Simona Halep, by age 26—something like the physical prime in modern tennis—had it all, almost. There was still a void at the center of everything. It wasn’t money: She’s made over $26 million in her career and played this French Open in full swoosh gear, hinting at a recent off-court windfall. It wa...
Dominic Thiem Owned By Rafael Nadal In French Open Final, Owned Again During Trophy Presentation
If you missed the men’s French Open final yesterday, you missed three quick sets of Rafael Nadal being Rafael Nadal and winning his 11th French Open trophy. But you also missed the trophy presenter, former Grand Slam winner Ken Rosewall, providing some unusually honest, slightly unfair analysis of N...
Rafael Nadal's French Open Is A Confrontation With His Only Real Threat
Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal will play each other in the French Open final on Sunday. Only one outcome has ever resulted from a French Open final involving Rafa. For a reality check, pinch yourself and say aloud, “Rafael Nadal has won 10 French Opens.” There is only the slimmest chance that Thiem ...
Simona Halep Claims First Slam Title, One Year After Roland Garros Collapse
A year after she blew a one-set lead in the French Open final to allow unseeded Jeļena Ostapenko to claim victory on the clay, Simona Halep bounced back from losing the first set to defeat Sloane Stephens and seize the first Grand Slam title of her career, 3–6, 6–4, 6-1....
The Undersized Diego Schwartzman Took A Set Off Rafael Nadal, And Then It Rained
Tennis, particularly the men’s side, has fallen into a certain rhythm, and if you’re a certain kind of old-school clay-court fogey, this rhythm might be boring. Boom, boom, boom, boom. The serve is the most powerful offensive tool in the game. It is the only shot in the game completely within a play...
Novak Djokovic Went Out Swinging Against A Relentless No-Name
Marco Cecchinato is 25 years old. Until this week, he had never won a match at a major—first-round losses in all four tries. Until last month, his biggest splash on tour might have been a 2016 suspension for match-fixing, later overturned on appeal. At No. 72 in the world, he has become the lowest-r...
The Serena Williams/Maria Sharapova Beef Will Have More Time To Marinate
Serena Williams withdrew from her fourth-round French Open match today against Maria Sharapova with a right pectoral injury that she said prevents her from serving. The decision was announced just before the match between the two rivals was slated to begin. ...
Serena Williams Forgets How Many Grand Slam Doubles Titles She And Venus Have
After winning their second-round French Open doubles match in straight sets today, Venus and Serena Williams, who laugh and joke during most of their matches together, were asked what it’s like to play on the same side of the net. For someone talking about her and her sister’s sheer domination in ...
Tennis Player Accidentally Lights Up Ball Kid At French Open
During his third-round French Open match today against Alexander Zverev, Bosnian tennis player Damir Džumhur inadvertently wrecked a ball kid as he tried to catch an errant shot out of the air. The boy was shaken up, and Džumhur tried to comfort him with hugs, which was somehow even more awkward tha...
This Is What It Looks Like When Serena Williams Takes Over
Momentum shifts in tennis are common, often slight, and always tenuous. Good tennis players capitalize on these tiny shifts—an unlucky bounce, an untimely double fault, a net cord. Great players, though, force the change themselves. That’s what Serena Williams did in her second-round French Open m...
Jared Donaldson's Legs Cramped Up, So He Had To Serve Underhand
American Jared Donaldson had an incredible performance in today’s second-round French Open match against the fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, pushing the Bulgarian to the brink in the fifth set, before fatigue was the ultimate decider. Donaldson resorted to trickery to get around his cramping, but it...
Tennis Channel Has Taken The French Open Hostage
The fan experience of tennis has become exponentially richer with the advent of streaming. When a draw has 128 entrants, like the singles events at all four Grand Slams, its early days are stuffed with matches, and no single live broadcast can depict all the action worth watching. It’s an obsolete m...