Lindsey Vonn optimistic after knee gives out in downhill race (video)

By Nick ZaccardiDec 21, 2013, 5:55 AM EST

Lindsey Vonn said she didn’t cause greater harm to her surgically repaired right knee when it “completely gave out” and caused her to ski out of a downhill race in Val d’Isere, France, on Saturday.

Vonn appeared to lose her balance, briefly lifted her left ski off the snow and missed a gate, raising concern over her comeback from major knee surgery.

The Olympic downhill champion was well into her run when she was reduced to a glide toward safety netting. Once she came to a stop, Vonn leaned over. She grimaced and clutched her left knee, according to The Associated Press.

In post-race quotes, Vonn said she will take one or two weeks off with her main goal still Sochi, according to the official Val d’Isere event Twitter account.

“I didn’t hurt myself more than I’m already hurt,” Vonn said, according to the AP. “It was a small compression, and it was fully loaded on the right ski and my knee just completely gave out. I tried to pressure the ski again and it gave out again. I had no chance of making that gate, unfortunately.”

Vonn said she thought her next race would be “sometime in January,” according to the AP.

“I’m going to stick to a similar plan that I was on before. I just need to be more careful of how many races I do,” she said. “I’m at risk of doing more damage to my knee and my meniscus. So I’m going to play it safe and race really minimal races. Probably one or two before the Olympics.”

Here’s how The Associated Press described what happened Saturday:

She lost her balance and her left ski went up in the air, putting all her weight on her surgically repaired right knee as she skied off course. She didn’t fall but grimaced as she pulled up, clutching her knee in a worrying sign ahead of the Sochi Olympics.

Vonn, 29, was in the fourth race of her comeback from blowing out her right knee at the World Championships in Schladming, Austria, in February.

She reinjured the right knee on Nov. 19, delaying her World Cup return to Dec. 6. Vonn placed 40th, 11th and fifth in three races in Lake Louise, Alberta, two weeks ago.

Vonn had said she wanted to reach a World Cup podium before the Sochi Olympics and that she might race a limited schedule to avoid risking further injury to her knee.

Vonn raced with a knee brace under her ski suit on Saturday and with boyfriend Tiger Woods watching near the finish.

@lindseyvonn admitted today that she's been skiing with NO ACL. Heads home today as planned. MRI tomorrow. Not ruling out races pre Sochi.

— Steve Porino (@sporino) December 21, 2013

Swiss Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden notched her first World Cup win in 1 minute, 47.28 seconds, on Saturday.

Reigning World Cup overall champion Tina Maze was second, .29 behind, for her best finish in 12 races this season.

Americans struggled. Leanne Smith was the best in 14th, followed by Olympic downhill silver medalist Julia Mancuso in 21st. Mancuso hasn’t finished better than 12th in 10 races this season.

Alice McKennis was 43rd out of 43 finishers in her first World Cup race since shattering her right tibial plateau into about 30 pieces in March.

Val d’Isere Downhill
1. Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden (SUI) 1:47.28
2. Tina Maze (SLO) 1:47.57
3. Cornelia Huetter (AUT) 1:47.80
4. Tina Weirather (LIE) 1:47.91
5. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted (NOR) 1:48.22
6. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten (SUI) 1:48.30
7. Dominique Gisin (SUI) 1:48.31
8. Kajsa Kling (SWE) 1:48.47
9. Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) 1:48.49
10. Elisabeth Goergl (AUT) 1:48.56
14. Leanne Smith (USA) 1:48.79
21. Julia Mancuso (USA) 1:49.09
43. Alice McKennis (USA) 1:52.02
DNF. Lindsey Vonn (USA)
DNF. Laurenne Ross (USA)
DNF. Stacey Cook (USA)

Lindsey Vonn ponders World Cup career wins record

Follow @nzaccardi

Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz exit French Open, leaving no U.S. men

Associated PressJun 3, 2023, 7:35 PM EDT

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Frances Tiafoe kept coming oh so close to extending his French Open match against Alexander Zverev: 12 times Saturday night, the American was two points from forcing things to a fifth set.

Yet the 12th-seeded Tiafoe never got closer than that.

Instead, the 22nd-seeded Zverev finished out his 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory after more than 3 1/2 hours in Court Philippe Chatrier to reach the fourth round. With Tiafoe’s exit, none of the 16 men from the United States who were in the bracket at the start of the tournament are still in the field.

“I mean, for the majority of the match, I felt like I was in control,” said Tiafoe, a 25-year-old from Maryland who fell to 1-7 against Zverev.

“It’s just tough,” he said about a half-hour after his loss ended, rubbing his face with his hand. “I should be playing the fifth right now.”

Two other American men lost earlier Saturday: No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz and unseeded Marcos Giron.

No. 23 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina beat Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5, and Nicolas Jarry of Chile eliminated Giron 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3.

There are three U.S women remaining: No. 6 Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens and Bernarda Pera.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

It is the second year in a row that zero men from the United States will participate in the fourth round at Roland Garros. If nothing else, it stands as a symbolic step back for the group after what seemed to be a couple of breakthrough showings at the past two majors.

For Tiafoe, getting to the fourth round is never the goal.

“I want to win the trophy,” he said.

Remember: No American man has won any Grand Slam title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. The French Open has been the least successful major in that stretch with no U.S. men reaching the quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003.

But Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open along the way to getting to the semifinals there last September, the first time in 16 years the host nation had a representative in the men’s final four at Flushing Meadows.

Then, at the Australian Open this January, Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda and Ben Shelton became the first trio of Americans in the men’s quarterfinals in Melbourne since 2000. Paul made it a step beyond that, to the semifinals.

After that came this benchmark: 10 Americans were ranked in the ATP’s Top 50, something that last happened in June 1995.

On Saturday, after putting aside a whiffed over-the-shoulder volley — he leaned atop the net for a moment in disbelief — Tiafoe served for the fourth set at 5-3, but couldn’t seal the deal.

In that game, and the next, and later on, too, including at 5-all in the tiebreaker, he would come within two points of owning that set.

Each time, Zverev claimed the very next point. When Tiafoe sent a forehand wide to end it, Zverev let out two big yells. Then the two, who have been pals for about 15 years, met for a warm embrace at the net, and Zverev placed his hand atop Tiafoe’s head.

“He’s one of my best friends on tour,” said Zverev, a German who twice has reached the semifinals on the red clay of Paris, “but on the court, I’m trying to win.”

At the 2022 French Open, Zverev tore ligaments in his right ankle while playing Nadal in the semifinals and had to stop.

“It’s been definitely the hardest year of my life, that’s for sure,” Zverev said. “I love tennis more than anything in the world.”

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2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 7:30 PM EDT

At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Having turned 22 on Wednesday, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her last pre-French Open match with a right thigh injury and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, is her top remaining challenger in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded American man or woman, was eliminated in the third round. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has three wins over Swiatek this year, withdrew before her third-round match due to illness.

No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, is the best hope to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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