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What French Open told us about Olympic favourites

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The French Open is over for another year – but the clay courts of Roland Garros will be back in use sooner than you think.

The iconic Paris venue will host the tennis tournaments at this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is the first time since Barcelona 1992 that tennis at the Olympics will be played on the surface.

So, has the French Open given us any hints about the gold-medal contenders?

‘Toughest challenge’ is beating Swiatek in Paris
Iga Swiatek has a 35-2 win record at Roland Garros

It’s hard to look past Iga Swiatek for women’s singles gold.

The 23-year-old has won four Grand Slam titles since the last Olympics in 2021, with three of those triumphs arriving on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

“I love it here,” Swiatek said after winning her third straight French Open title with a commanding victory over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.

Paolini told Swiatek afterwards that playing her in Paris is “the toughest challenge in this sport” – and she’s not wrong.

That final victory stretched the Pole’s winning streak at Roland Garros to 21 matches.

It also rounded off a dominant clay-court season for Swiatek, who added to her wins in Madrid and Rome to become just the second player after Serena Williams to claim the ‘Triple Crown’ in a calendar year.

Not even Swiatek’s three closest-ranked rivals – Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina – have been able to defeat her on the surface this year.

Keeping her away from the gold medal will be difficult.

Djokovic faces fitness fight in bid for missing piece

Olympic gold is the one thing missing from Novak Djokovic’s trophy collection.

And at 37, time appears to be running out for the Serb to triumph at a Games.

In April, Djokovic said Paris 2024 was “a priority” this year.

However, his Olympic dream has been hampered by a medial meniscus tear in his right knee that caused his withdrawal from the French Open quarter-finals.

Not only did that end Djokovic’s hopes of winning a record 25th Grand Slam title, it also means he faces a race against time to be fit in time for the Olympics.

Djokovic earned a bronze medal at Beijing 2008, but he has lost the third-place match twice in his three Olympic appearances since.

Long-term rivals Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have both won gold in the men’s singles, while Roger Federer took silver in 2012.

The men’s singles draw is wide open

While Swiatek is the nailed-on favourite for gold in the women’s draw, it’s harder to call on the men’s side.

Even if Djokovic is fit in time for the Olympics, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has struggled for form this year, failing to reach a final.

Carlos Alcaraz will head into the Games as the reigning French Open champion after claiming a maiden title at the tournament many always thought he was destined to win.

However, it was anything but an easy run for the Spaniard, who needed five sets to win his semi-final against Jannik Sinner, while Alexander Zverev also took him to five in the final.

Runner-up Zverev is the defending Olympic champion, and the German will take confidence from reaching the showpiece after failing to win his three previous semi-finals in Paris.

New world number one Sinner made his best run in the French capital, while fellow semi-finalist Casper Ruud can also be considered a key contender having made two of the past three finals at Roland Garros.

Brits are in ‘best place’ on clay before Paris
Andy Murray won gold in the men’s singles at London 2012 and Rio 2016

This year’s French Open was a tournament to forget for the British singles players.

The six Britons – Andy Murray, Katie Boulter, Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Harriet Dart – all lost their opening matches in the first three days.

A poor showing in Paris doesn’t bode well for Team GB at this year’s Olympics, but Evans said British tennis was in the “best spot” it had been on clay for a long time.

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Murray came close to winning the title at Roland Garros in 2016, losing to Djokovic in the final.

Paris 2024 is likely to be the 37-year-old’s last chance to compete at a Games, having said earlier this year he is not planning to “play much past this summer”.

Hewett and Reid have big chance of Paralympic gold
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid won doubles silver at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020

Team GB might stand a better chance at the Paralympics when it comes to tennis.

Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid will be favourites to win men’s doubles gold in Paris after sealing their fifth straight French Open triumph on Saturday.

The pair, who have won 20 Grand Slam titles together, will be keen to better their silver-medal results from 2016 and 2020.

World number one Hewett will also want to get his hands on the gold medal in the singles, after losing out to Reid in Rio in 2016.

He lost in the French Open singles semi-finals this year, with Japanese teenager Tokito Oda winning the title for the second year running.

 

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Hatton clinches Alfred Dunhill Links Title With Birdie On 18th

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England’s Tyrrell Hatton has secured the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship title for a third time, clinching it by a shot via a birdie on the 18th hole of the final round at St Andrews.

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts had been neck-and-neck with Hatton through the day, as both went to the 18th level on 23 under, but Hatton holed out to clinch the seventh DP World Tour success of his career and a hat-trick in this event following his victories in 2016 and 2017.

In doing so, the 32-year-old becomes the first player to win the tournament on three occasions, and now sits at No 20 in the world rankings.

Hatton’s English compatriot Tommy Fleetwood finished third on 21 under.

On the 18th, Colsaerts putted to eight feet and missed his own birdie attempt, leaving Hatton a chance for victory after he had chipped to four feet, which the Englishman took with aplomb.

Hatton, who plays on the Saudi-funded LIV Golf circuit, shot two-under 70 and was 24-under-par overall – tying the tournament record he held from 2017.

It is Hatton’s first DP World Tour win since 2021 in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Colsaerts, who also shot 70, was looking to win on the tour for the first time in five years.

“It feels good. It’s the first time I’ve actually won the tournament with my dad here, so it means a lot,” Hatton told Sky Sports Golf.

“To do it at the home of golf is really special. I’m trying not to cry to be honest. I’m lost for words.

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Gauff Wins First WTA Title In Nine Months With China Open Triumph s

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Coco Gauff won her first WTA Tour title since January with a straight-sets victory in the China Open final against Karolina Muchova.

Gauff took three weeks off from tennis after she surprisingly lost in the fourth round of the US Open at the start of September but has played some of her best tennis in Beijing over the last week.

She had the upper hand over Muchova for most of the final to race to a 6-1 6-3 win and secure her biggest triumph since that memorable maiden Grand Slam title in New York over a year ago.

“It’s almost like a Grand Slam as the facilities are great. This is as good as it gets,” said Gauff, who has made the perfect start to life with new coaches Jean-Christophe Faurel and Matt Daly after she parted ways with Brad Gilbert following this year’s US Open.

“I would like to thank the fans. Almost every match has been filled to the brim, so thank you guys for supporting women’s tennis.”

Watched on by her parents, Gauff was hitting the ball more harder and more accurately from the get-go than her opponent as she took a 2-0 and 3-1 lead.

The American won three consecutive games and continued to serve well, winning 94 per cent of points on her first serve, to wrap up the first set in half an hour.

Muchova surprisingly broke Gauff early in the second set to go 2-0 ahead, but lost the next four games and soon trailed 4-3.

Another comfortable hold and a break of serve from Gauff gave her an eighth career WTA Tour title, having only lost one final since turning professional as a 14-year-old in 2018.

Gauff will turn her attention to the Wuhan Open, where she will be in action mid-week. Britain’s Katie Boulter and top seed Aryna Sabalenka will also be competing in the WTA 1000 tournament.

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‘If I Land, I Can Knock Anyone Out’ – Most Destructive Puncher Warns Opponent

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There might not be a more menacing sight in all sport that Artur Beterbiev in full flow.

The holder of the WBC, WBO and IBF light-heavyweight titles, he is one of boxing’s most destructive punchers.

He is a multi-belt champion whom no one has been able to contain. No professional fighter has gone the distance with him and Beterbiev has spent years operating at the highest levels.

He has got to them late, or got to them early, but no opponent has managed to hear the final bell.

But, this Saturday, live on Sky Sports Box Office, Beterbiev is facing his greatest threat yet.

Dmitry Bivol, the holder of the WBA belt, has the only major championship outside of Beterbiev’s possession.

Undefeated like Beterbiev, Bivol is strong himself. A stern puncher, with outstanding footwork and timing, Bivol has a style that has convinced many that he is possibly the only man who can beat the unified titlist.

Dmitry Bivol, the holder of the WBA belt, has the only major championship outside of Beterbiev’s possession.

Undefeated like Beterbiev, Bivol is strong himself. A stern puncher, with outstanding footwork and timing, Bivol has a style that has convinced many that he is possibly the only man who can beat the unified titlist.

But if he is to be the toughest test of Beterbiev’s career, the unified champion is waiting to be convinced.

‘We’ll see. I’m really interested to know that. I don’t know. I always prepare for 12 rounds, for hard work,” Beterbiev told Sky Sports.

But he is extremely confident in the power behind his fists. “If I land, everyone can be knocked out,” he said, before adding: “At the same time we’re not thinking about a knockout, it’s not the main thing in our team.

“It’s not good if you prepare for a fight with one scenario. You need to be smarter.”

Beterbiev speaks softly but is no less menacing for that. He does not need histrionics or trashtalk. His KO power does all the screaming for him.

“Just seeing Artur who’s so quiet minded, so quiet, and just said [to Bivol at the press conference]: ‘He knows,'” noted Todd DuBoef, president of Top Rank which promotes Beterbiev.

“He doesn’t talk smack, he wasn’t getting in his face. ‘He knows’… The confidence was just beautiful and it was so Artur.

“His English is good but not that good and he just knew that all he needed to get across was that he mentally feels very comfortable about this fight and very excited.”

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