Katie Ledecky, Ryan Lochte win top awards at Golden Goggles

By Nick ZaccardiNov 25, 2013, 9:21 AM EST

Katie Ledecky and Ryan Lochte reigned at the Golden Goggles much like they dominated their competition this past year.

Ledecky and Lochte swept Athlete of the Year and Race of the Year at USA Swimming’s 10th annual awards hosted by Kevin Nealon in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Ledecky, 16, won four gold medals and broke two world records at the World Championships in Barcelona over the summer. She added to her Olympic gold in the 1500m with world titles in the 400m, 800m (world record), 1500m (world record) and the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Ledecky beat out Missy Franklin and Haley Anderson for Female Athlete of the Year. She won Race of the Year for her 1500m swim for the second straight year.

“It’s been a process, and it’s been a fun one,” said Ledecky, a Bethesda, Md., high school junior who flew to Los Angeles, according to USA Swimming. “I owe that to my family, my teammates, my classmates, my teachers – everyone I’ve been surrounded with.”

Lochte, 29, won three gold medals (200m backstroke, 200m individual medley, 4x200m free relay) and one silver (4x100m free relay) at the World Championships. Now a four-time Male Athlete of the Year, he won Race of the Year for his 200m IM gold.

Lochte, who beat Matt Grevers for Male Athlete of the Year, was not in attendance but taped a video message. He said he didn’t fly to Los Angeles on doctors’ orders because of his recent injury after a run-in with a fan, according to Swimming World.

“Ryan is fine, he just got tackled a little bit,” said swim coach Jon Urbanchek, who accepted on Lochte’s behalf, according to The Associated Press.

The Relay Performance of the Year went to the women’s 4x100m free relay at the World Championships (Missy Franklin, Natalie Coughlin, Shannon Vreeland, Megan Romano) that won gold in an American record.

Chase Kalisz, 19, won Breakout Performer of the Year after winning silver in the 400m IM at worlds, his first major international meet.

Romano took home the Perseverance Award after failing to make the 2012 Olympic Team and bouncing back to win six medals at the World University Games and two golds at worlds.

Ledecky’s coach, Bruce Gemmell, won Coach of the Year.

Cullen Jones @CullenJones with the statement shoes #GoldenGoggles pic.twitter.com/4aItrSdKL9

— SwimmingWorld (@SwimmingWorld) November 25, 2013

@kevin_nealon thanks for a great #goldengoggles. pic.twitter.com/1qexL7N5q9

— Mike Unger (@munger87) November 25, 2013

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Novak Djokovic breaks record he shared with Rafael Nadal at French Open

Associated PressJun 4, 2023, 11:18 AM EDT

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Novak Djokovic broke a tie with rival Rafael Nadal by reaching the French Open quarterfinals for the record 17th time, never truly in trouble during a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday.

Djokovic is closing on bettering Nadal in a more prestigious category: Grand Slam singles championships. Both currently sit at 22. For Djokovic, that total includes two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021, and he can become the first man to own at least three trophies from each major tournament.

Nadal is a 14-time champion in Paris but is missing this time because of a hip injury; he had arthroscopic surgery Friday night.

Against the 94th-ranked Varillas, who had never won a Slam match until this event and then took three in a row in five sets, Djokovic was, not surprisingly, at his dominant best at Court Philippe Chatrier on a warm, sunny day.

The 36-year-old from Serbia finished with more than twice as many winners, 35-15, and fewer unforced errors. He went 15 for 17 on trips to the net. He put in 80% of his first serves. He converted 6 of 12 break points while dropping his serve only once.

All in all, a no-drama showing in under two hours from Djokovic, who hasn’t ceded a set yet through four matches. He’s had his less-than-amiable back-and-forths with some spectators over the past week in Paris, but when this one ended, Djokovic gestured as though to hug everyone as he heard some chants of his two-syllable nickname, “No-le!”

In his 55th career major quarterfinal — Roger Federer, who retired with 58, is the only man to reach more — and 14th in a row at Roland Garros, the No. 3-seeded Djokovic will face No. 11 Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.

Khachanov, who is 1-8 against Djokovic, made it this far at a Slam for the fifth time by defeating Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-1.

The other men’s fourth-round matches Sunday were No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti, and No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Sebastian Ofner.

Two unseeded women moved into quarterfinals and will play each other next: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up at Roland Garros, and Karolina Muchova.

Pavlyuchenkova, who missed last year’s tournament as part of a lengthy absence with a knee injury, got past a third consecutive seeded opponent, No. 28 Elise Mertens, by a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 score.

Muchova was a 6-4, 6-4 winner against Elina Avanesyan, who lost in qualifying but got into the main draw when another player withdrew.

The other women’s matches scheduled for later: No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, and No. 9 Daria Kasatkina vs. Elina Svitolina.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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French Open doubles team disqualified after tennis ball hits ball girl

Associated PressJun 4, 2023, 9:57 AM EDT

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French Open doubles player Miyu Kato and her partner were forced to forfeit a match when Kato accidentally hit a ball girl in the neck with a ball after a point on Sunday.

In the second set on Court 14 at Roland Garros, Kato took a swing with her racket and the ball flew toward the ball kid, who was not looking in the player’s direction while heading off the court.

At first, chair umpire Alexandre Juge only issued a warning to Kato. But after tournament referee Remy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen went to Court 14 to look into what happened, Kato and her partner, Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia, were disqualified.

That made Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain the winners of the match.

“It’s just a bad situation for everyone,” Bouzkova said. “But it’s kind of something that, I guess, is taken by the rules, as it is, even though it’s very unfortunate for them. … At the end of the day, it was the referee’s decision.”

Bouzkova said she did not see the ball hit the ball girl, but “she was crying for like 15 minutes.”

She said one of the officials said the ball “has to do some kind of harm to the person affected” and that “at first, (Juge) didn’t see that.”

Bouzkova said she and Sorribes Tormo told Juge “to look into it more and ask our opponents what they think happened.”

During Coco Gauff’s 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1 singles victory over Mirra Andreeva on Saturday, Andreev swatted a ball into the Court Suzanne Lenglen stands after dropping a point in the first set. Andreev was given a warning by the chair umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct but no further penalty.

“I heard about that. Didn’t see it,” Bouzkova said. “I guess it just depends on the circumstances and the given situation as it happens. … It is difficult, for sure.

In the quarterfinals, Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo will face Ellen Perez of Australia and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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a tough scene in Paris. Doubles partners Kato/Sutjiadi just got defaulted as Kato hit a ball girl accidentally at 6-7(1), 3-1.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/A7BIshh1CX

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 4, 2023

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