Rafael Nadal's historic clay-court season will reach its apex on Sunday as the Spaniard will attempt to win his record 10th Roland Garros title and his third “La Décima” of the season. Nadal advanced to his 10th Roland Garros final on Friday by avenging his lone clay-court loss of the season, dismissing Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the semi-final. On Sunday, Nadal will meet another former Roland Garros champion in third seed and 2015 titlist Stan Wawrinka, who prevailed past top seed Andy Murray 6-7(8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 in four hours and 34 minutes. Something will have to give during what should be a battle of a final. Wawrinka has never lost in a Grand Slam title...
Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus moved into their first Grand Slam final on Friday at Roland Garros, continuing their inspired play with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 16th seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. Awaiting them in the final are Santiago Gonzalez and Donald Young, who prevailed on Thursday over Fernando Verdasco and Nenad Zimonjic. There is guaranteed to be both an American and a first-time Grand Slam winner on Saturday. Harrison had never reached a Grand Slam semi-final prior to this fortnight, while Venus had never reached the last eight at a major. The American-Kiwi pairing has already enjoyed success this year by taking the doubles title last month in Estoril. Harrison has won three ATP World...
Stan Wawrinka will challenge for a fourth Grand Slam championship after hitting 87 winners to edge Andy Murray 6-7(8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 in a pulsating semi-final at Roland Garros on Friday. The Swiss will look to win his second Roland Garros crown when he faces either nine-time champion Rafael Nadal or Dominic Thiem in Sunday’s final. Wawrinka won the clay-court major in 2015, beating Novak Djokovic, and also counts triumphs at the 2014 Australian Open and 2016 US Open in his major haul. "I'm really happy to be in the final," said Wawrinka. "I think it was quite a tough match today. A big battle. I want to enjoy it a lot, because, as I say, it's not all...
One of Brazil's top postcards has been specially decorated to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Gustavo Kuerten's unprecedented victory at Roland Garros. Christ The Redeemer was illuminated in blue and yellow, colours of the uniform of the Brazilian tennis player who arrived in France as No. 66 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and in two weeks later won one of the main Grand Slam tournaments, exactly on 8 June. The homage done by the archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro in partnership with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is a tribute to the conquest of Guga in 1997. Guga is in Paris participating in some commemorative events. He has followed the tribute from afar: "I feel an extraordinary emotion and gratitude,...
Santiago Gonzalez and Donald Young reached their first Grand Slam championship doubles final on Thursday at Roland Garros. The Mexican-American team battled hard to knock out Fernando Verdasco and Nenad Zimonjic 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes for a place in Saturday’s title match. While Verdasco and Zimonjic clinched the first set, that saw early service breaks, it was Gonzalez and Young who had their 3-1 advantage clawed back in the second set. From 5-5 in the second set, the Mexican and American duo won five straight games to take a 3-0 lead in the decider. Zimonjic, who won the 2010 Roland Garros doubles title with Daniel Nestor, remains on 698 match wins. Gonzalez has an 11-7...
