Tag:

Court Philippe Chatrier

Other Sports

Olympics Tennis News: Novak Djokovic finally achieves his long-awaited Olympic Games dream following a close straight sets win over Carlos Alcaraz

by Sports Benches

That was another close match between two of the best Tennis players we’ve had seen really this time in an Olympics level by both veteran Novak Djokovic from Serbia and rising star Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal match at Court Phillipe Chatrier. After two really close sets that all both ended via tiebreaks, the veteran stood out strong in none other than Djokovic who finally found the missing puzzle with the gold medal win.

The final score was 7-6 with 7-3 tiebreak and also 7-6 with 7-2 tiebreak that lasted nearly three hours in 2 hours & 50 mins.

Not bad from Alcaraz for a start when he got the ball rolling but then he began to struggle when it comes to the tiebreak under pressure and that’s where he was outrun by Djokovic on both occasions unfortunately here and there. Now that Djokovic had his moments and he’s age 37 right now, let’s hope he can get an Olympic gold at least but that will have to come in 2028 at Los Angeles. Plus, great to see him play at the Roland Garros over this past week alongside his idol and also veteran grand slam champion Rafael Nadal for a couple in the doubles too who played his last few matches for good.

At last but not least, Djokovic has conquered it all having won 3 x Roland Garros titles that now includes an Olympics gold medal at the same Roland Garros venue. Not only he got away against Rafa earlier this week during the 2nd round but he also just defeated another Spaniard involving Rafa’s heir in Alcaraz overnight for gold. Okay, the first couple of games during the first set wasn’t easy. However, he never gave up as always that cemented his place as a veteran grand slam star, and yet he’s done it including a long 2nd set where Djokovic stood his ground well through the very end to end his 16-year long wait – well done!!

Looks like it’s well and truly going to be the last time we’ve see these legends on-court with Rafa now retired while Novak may still have a bit longer to go before he too will eventually a call a day at some point but mostly like before LA 2028 by then. For now, bring on the 4th and final grand slam season of 2024 with the US Open tournament in New York beginning at the end of August to early September. 

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Olympics Tennis News: Super Saturday at Court Phillipe Chatrier with both the men’s doubles final as Matt Ebden & John Peers won gold including the women’s singles final

by Sports Benches

What a Final it was at Court Phillipe Chatrier as Matt Ebden and John Peers are now Olympic champions in the Men’s Doubles Final over Team USA’s duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram out of a tight three set contest. The last time Australia won a gold medal there at an Olympics level was back in Atlanta in 1996 by both Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde. Now fast forward to 28 years, Australia finally got their first gold medal in the 21st century for Tennis thanks to the superstar doubles duo of Ebden & Peers.

It wasn’t the easiest of starts when Ebden and Peers were behind earlier on, even though they had some fair share of battles before Team USA locked themselves in with the 1st set lead. But the game wasn’t over just yet when they began to turn themselves around from the set down & that paid off big time where they kept on going by putting their opponents under pressure until the very end. Now they might have almost lost 3 out of 4 gold medal points but at least that crucial final serve was good enough to see off both Krajicek and Ram for the gold medal win.

Commiserations from Krajicek and Ram whom they played oh so well off the back of a good headstart to stay ahead of Ebden and Peers. They never gave them an easy run for sure but they did however have slipped away at times following the 1-0 set lead where the final set best of ten tiebreak decider has been activated by Australia before Peers had the last say for the final serve for that gold medal point.

And how good was China Qinwen Zheng who finally got her breakthrough that may not be exactly at a grand slam at this stage but at least she won a gold medal at the Roland Garros with the straight sets (6-2 & 6-3) win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic. She too had a powerful first set performance while Zheng took her time well v the improving Vekic as the match goes on before she stood her ground that made her an Olympics champion for China. Sure she has unfinished ahead and that will be winning a grand slam after she fell short to Aryna Sabalenka back in late January of this year at Melbourne Park.

On Vekic, it wasn’t the match she wanted when she fired off not bad on both sets including some progress from the opening set down. But just couldn’t catch up nor found the long run consistency to put Zheng under pressure. She did make Croatia proud though as Vekic collected the silver medal ahead of Iga Swiatek from Poland who won bronze v Anna Karolína Schmiedlová from Slovakia (6-2 & 6-1).

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Olympics Tennis News: Carlos Alcaraz too good for Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi with Matt Ebden & John Peers also on their way to an Olympic Gold Final in the doubles

by Sports Benches

What a way to finish off Friday here with two brilliant semi-final Tennis matches we’ve just saw tonight at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris coming from Stade Roland Garros where Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz was too good for Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets (6-1, 6-1) & so does our Aussie doubles pair of Matt Ebden & John Peers (7-5, 6-2) also in straight sets during the 2nd men’s doubles semi against USA’s Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz. Alcaraz will await his next opponent for Sunday’s gold medal match between the winner of the other men’s semi-final in either Serbian legend Novak Djokovic or Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti (another Wimby rematch from last month) later on while Ebden/Peers isn’t done with Team USA just yet going into tomorrow night where they will take on Austin Kraijcek & Rajeev Ram for the Men’s Doubles gold medal match.

It wasn’t Auger-Aliassime’s day today having came here off a great run up until this point including two good wins against Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round and Norway’s Casper Ruud in the Quarter-Finals the other day. However, going up against a seasoned grand slam champ is never easy to say unfortunately and that proved too good to be true other than some early head starts v Alcaraz. His time isn’t done yet with the Bronze Medal match tomorrow to hopefully give Canada another medal against whoever loses the other semi final in either Djokovic or Musetti. Looking at Alcaraz now, he’s simply unstoppable – that’s all! He too never looked out of place having dominated all two sets en route to an Olympics gold medal Final. Looks like it’s going to be another round of Alcaraz v Djokovic if Djokovic can win v Musetti again later on as the young Spaniard would love to win another major honour at the same Court Phillipe Chatrier all in the one year this time for gold.

And how good was Ebden and Peers on what has been an unreal performance to hold off Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in straight sets. That first stage was really close where they both found a way to get out unscathed and although they had a few bumps along the way with the 1-0 lead but at least both Ebden and Peers took their time well to wrap all things up for the semi-final win. Hard luck to Paul and Fritz by the way who weren’t far off the pace of Ebden and Peers throughout the opening set but struggled mightily to stay in the game during the set, even though a couple of late saves wasn’t enough to warrant them a big turnaround from there. Now Ebden and Peers are one stop closer now to emulating “The Woodies” pair of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde from Atlanta 96′ if they can get this done tomorrow & Australia is surely right behind them.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Carlos Alcaraz stuns Alexander Zverev after the third set to an unreal comeback through the 5th & final set sprint with his 1st Roland Garros Men’s title at Court Phillipe Chatrier

by Sports Benches

What a way to wrap up the 2024 Roland Garros Tennis tournament at Court Phillipe Chatrier thanks to an top-notch five-set showdown between Carlos Alcaraz from Spain and German Alexander Zverev. The Spaniard benefited from Zverev’s slow start with the opening set lead but Zverev eventually got himself really quick from the set down at 1-1 apiece before he was leading for the first time after another close 3rd set nettle going into the 4th set, 2-1. But Zverev unfortunately slipped away where not only Alcaraz brought the 5th and final set decider, he also fell short on his 2nd ever grand slam final despite showing A-game performance. Gotta say the poor start serves while unable to arrest Alcaraz’s restart past the 3rd set really cost him as job isn’t done yet for Zverev to hopefully win a major title on his third attempt at whichever might be next time.

At the end of the day, Alcaraz has just won another first ever major this time on the courts of clay in the year 2024 – having first done so at the US Open two years ago followed by Wimbledon last year. He too never gave up to reset himself both from that 2nd set disappointment and also the close 3rd set play where Zverev was on top for a while by quickly nailing his opponent down before he found a way at last to close things out also so quickly towards the very end after a long afternoon out on-court. What’s next for him is to defend his Wimbledon crown going into next month, don’t forget the Olympics gold too if possible & winning back the US Open in early September that would mean finally winning the Aussie Open like Rafa Nadal at least by January next year. The final score was 3-6 to Alcaraz, 6-2 to Zverev, 7-5 to Zverev, 1-6 and 2-6 to Alcaraz.

And on the Aussies here on show, it might be a long way away for someone to thrive in the women’s singles draw but we did so well however in the men with Thanasi Kokkanakis up until the 3rd round by American Taylor Fritz while Alex De Minaur got his breakthrough past the Round of 16 by shocking World No.5 Daniil Medvedev before he was eliminated a few days later by the eventual runner-up finalist in Zverev. Wished we could see more of De Minaur’s fightback where he was usually so good from the set down but upon playing his 2nd grand slam finals here, he just needs to be a bit more patient and we shall see him doing so well on a regular basis as hope De Minaur will go even deeper next time around sooner rather than later.

Australian Open already done at the end of January to kickstart 2024 followed by the Roland Garros tournament just now after another 15 days of play, even though we had some wet weather delays on the outside courts in the early rounds. Next stop, London, England for The Championships on the grass courts at Wimbledon starting Monday July 1st to Sunday July 14th. Then it’s a week-long off before we return to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics from Friday July 26th to Sunday August 8th,

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

Looking ahead for the 2024 Roland Garros Tennis Tournament starting on Sunday

by Sports Benches

It’s been a while but grand slam tennis is back for the 2nd tourney out of 4 this year at the Roland Garros in Paris, France, that is going to take over 15 days beginning this Sunday. So a bit similar to what we’ve had back in January for the Australian Open at Melbourne Park in order to give more time for the matches to finish early after a few overnight 5-setters last year.

There will be 1-2 changes coming at Nine where they will only have four people onboard of former doubles champion and Tipping Point Australia host Todd Woodbridge (Host & Co-Commentator), former World No.4 Jelena Dokic, ex-player and 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur & versatile sports announcer who does some NRL for the network Brenton Speed. 

Looks like there will be no Roz Kelly since she will be focusing on the Olympics come July and also wants to be a bit more flexible other than presenting the Friday-Saturday Sydney sports news and the newly rebranded Wide World of Sports Sunday show & no Brett Phillips either for the overnight/early morning host shift. It seems they will relay the world feed coverage for the 2nd half day’s action instead of having Phillips staying up except the both singles finals (Nine will continue to have it on its own), having seen it all along at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals week in Spain where Australia fell short once again to Italy.

And on Stan Sport (subscription required to stream for $25 a month), their whole lots of content including on-demand replays & mini match highlights will continue to come straight from the world feed. They will also continue to run their own daily review show in the mornings from Nine’s Sydney studios with Host Chris Stubbs (who continues to do freelance despite Stan losing the SpeedSeries rights back to Seven) and ex-Tennis player Wally Masur. So that’s that over the next 15 days across Nine and Stan as all eyes on 11th ranked Alex De Minaur and maybe Jordan Thompson (currently World No.37) to hopefully make a breakthrough & have an extended crack in the last eight like Ash Barty did back in 2019 on the courts of clay.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

2022 French Open Day 15: Rafa Nadal pulled off way comfortably against Casper Ruud en route to his 22nd grand slam title here at Court Philippe Chatrier

by Sports Benches

What a way to close out after 15 days of top-standard grand slam tennis with the men’s singles’ final in this year’s French Open. World No.8 from Norway Casper Ruud did his best to hold out Rafa earlier on between the 1st and 2nd sets. But it’s Rafa who was outstanding for the whole time that blew Ruud away so easily with the championship win at Court Philippe Chatrier; 6-3, 6-3, 6-0.

It’s not the ending Casper Ruud hoped for after he finished runner-up in his first ever grand slam singles’ final at age 23. He showed some fight when trying to catch up to Nadal earlier on, as well as the 2nd set restart where Ruud got the better momentum there. However, a poor opening set start and a lack of 2nd half pull robbed him the chance to shut down Rafa, before he was comfortably beaten without any game registered by the 3rd & final set. What he can learn from his first-ever grand slam final is for Ruud to take out these positives that helped him work his way through this men’s singles draw, and try go go one better later this year at Wimbledon and/or US Open. There’s still plenty of time left to make history of world tennis throughout this 2020s decade.

And once again this is grand slam title No.22, as well as his 14th French Open Championship for Rafa Nadal aka The King of Clay. He fired off comfortably with a decent early lead against Ruud where the Norwegian may have held Rafa back a bit when he was being tested. But he was simply too good where he had the better experience, patience, fightback & execution to pull off from start to finish in three straight sets. It will be interesting to see if Rafa can complete the clean sweep with all four grand slam titles in the one year going into Wimbledon in a few weeks, as well as the US Open in late August-early September. He also just turned 36 a few days ago where this will be his next and last golden target before Rafa retires.

Two grand slams done, two to go. We now turn our attention to The Championships at Wimbledon in London, England, from Monday June 27 to Sunday July 10.

#Tennis #RafaNadal #CasperRuud #FrenchOpen #GrandSlam #RolandGarros #Spain #Norway #CourtPhilippeChatrier #ATPTour

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

2022 French Open Day 14: Iga Swiatek too good from start to finish v Coco Gauff that clinched her 2nd grand slam championship since the 2020 edition on clay

by Sports Benches

It’s been a quick and easy finish to the women’s singles’ final on Day 14 of this year’s French Open where Iga Swiatek just won her 2nd grand slam title since 2020 here on clay at Court Philippe Chatrier. She had no problem getting the job done fair and square against Coco Gauff in straight sets; 6-1, 6-2.

Yes, it’s hard to look back on what it’s like to settle second best from 18-year-old American Coco Gauff. She had a brilliant restart into the second set in a bid to stay in this fight, having fired off poorly where Gauff fell way behind. However, she lacks the response & finishing needed to put the pressure back on Swiatek where Gauff was easily blown away by the World No.1 in the end. It’s her first grand slam final appearance, as there will be many more chances to savour if Gauff vows to come stronger for the next tournament at Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time.

And congratulations to Iga Swiatek with her 2nd grand slam championship since the 2020 French Open here. She just proved to be the top-ranked player out on-court today, who can deliver silverware, as she was too good for Gauff unchallenged from start to finish. It’s been another big moment for the 21-year-old from Poland today, having fell short in the semis by Danielle Collins at the Australian Open back in January before she took the World No.1 WTA ranking following Ash Barty’s retirement two months ago, and now won another grand slam with the No.1 on her side. Let’s see if she can dominate the next two Grand Slams at Wimbledon & US Open soon enough later this year.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

2022 French Open Day 13: Rafa Nadal v Alexander Zverev semi-final tie came to an heartbreaking end over Zverev’s ankle injury

by Sports Benches

It wasn’t the ending we wanted to see when Alexander Zverev injured his ankle & retired hurt while trying to stop Rafa Nadal from winning the 2nd set. But this semi-final tie had to be wrapped up immediately as Nadal will advance to Sunday’s main event v Norwegian Casper Ruud at Court Philippe Chatrier. The final score was done just over three overs of play via walkover; 7-6 via 10-8 tiebreaker, 6-6.

Zverev fired off with the early headstart that helped him took advantage earlier in both sets ahead of Rafa. He also showed plenty of fight every time he tries go past set point but just couldn’t find the response & finishing needed to hold off his opponent, especially when after he chased the ball so hard but then lightning struck that sent him a huge blow to his ankle. We’re all gutted not to see Zverev continue playing where we send him best wishes with his recovery, before he hopes to come back sooner rather than later by going one better towards another grand slam final since the 2020 US Open.

And Nadal proved to be the better fighter with a brilliant response and execution that helped him pass Zverev through each set. He’s got so much patience with a close lens in Zverev’s natural game where not only Rafa cancelled his Zverev’s fast start, but he also held him back through the very end through another lifeline to close it out and he came out unscathed on top. Although it wasn’t a happy ending when his opponent injured his ankle, all Rafa did was to shake hands with respect before he moves onto the next challenge towards another possible grand slam title of 2022 tomorrow.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

2022 French Open Day 11: Daria Kasatkina defeated Veronika Kudermetova ahead of her huge semi-final test tonight v World No.1 Iga Swiatek

by Sports Benches

Looking back earlier yesterday on Day 11 of the 2022 French Open, we also saw another brilliant Quarter-Final over in the women’s singles tie between Veronika Kudermetova & Daria Kasatkina. Both of them played really well when they were on the same page but it’s Kasatkina who came out on top in straight sets; 4-6, 6-7 via 5-7 tiebreaker.

Unlucky from Kudermetova after she was eliminated in the Final 8 with the loss there. She got the build-up base going that helped her stay ahead in this fight throughout the whole time. However, she lacked the finishing needed to shut down Kasatkina where she fell short twice before her opponent stood out as the better player in the end. It’s her first grand slam quarter-finals appearance after a series of 3rd round finishes before in 2021-22 at the Australian Open, as well as the 2019 French Open. Although she can’t play at Wimbledon this year including Kasatkina due to the organisers’ ban on Russian & Belarusian players, but she hopes to build on that breakthrough and enter Top 10-15 if it means regular grand slam Final 8 appearances.

And speaking of Kasatkina, she responded to Kudermetova’s brilliant start with the patience & fightback that helped

close in and eventually deny her opponent with the opening set lead. The way Kasatkina shown her persistence when continuing her battles against a tough opponent summed up her incredible comeback, as the executions got the best of her towards the finish line first via the tiebreak. She has all the skills and tools needed to prepare ahead of her first ever grand slam semi-final tonight, having tried failed to move past Final 8 twice before in 2018 here at the French Open and Wimbledon. Let’s see if she can upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek & secure another breakthrough for Saturday’s Women’s singles’ final against either Coco Gauff or Martina Trevisian.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
Other Sports

2022 French Open Day 11: Holger Rune’s sensational run has come to an end as Casper Ruud books semi-final place tomorrow v Marin Cilic

by Sports Benches

The Final Four is all set for Day 13 tomorrow at the French Open; Rafa Nadal v Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud v Marin Cilic. Casper Ruud proved too good to pull off at the start while youngster Holger Rune isn’t an easy opponent to face when he made up some lost time from the opening set down. But it’s Ruud who responded well to Rune’s competitiveness when he denied him a 3rd set closer at the tiebreak followed by a win that sent the Dane out of the Quarter-Finals here at Court Philippe Chatrier. The final score is 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 via 7-2 tiebreaker. 6-3.

Well, it’s been a great run but it all has to come to an end from 19-year-old Dane Holger Rune. He responded really well from the opening set down where Rune showed lots of fight to try and keep his French Open campaign alive. However, the poor starts really let him down after he was easily blown away while he just couldn’t kick on when Rune fell short in the 3rd set before he was over and done by Ruud. It’s his first grand slam knockout appearance which is quite a remarkable achievement just under 20 years old. He’s sure to create many more moments including the moment when Rune gets to win his first grand slam title.

And job well done to World No.8 Casper Ruud from Norway with the win. He never looked out of place having fired off to a fast start; he also didn’t hesitate on the young Dane when Ruud lost the 2nd set before he held back Rune at the tiebreak & pulled off his way further towards the finish line. This tie was his first grand slam Quarter-Finals appearance as his brilliant run at the French Open continues into the Final Four tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if he can knock off Marin Cilic for a spot in the final this Sunday with either Rafa Nadal or Alexander Zverev.

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
  • 1
  • 2