Katinka Hosszu wins 2 events again at Charlotte Grand Prix

By Nick ZaccardiMay 17, 2014, 10:11 PM EDT

Is there any doubt who is the world’s greatest all-around female swimmer?

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, the world champion in both individual medleys, won two finals in a 35-minute span at the Charlotte Grand Prix on Saturday. She also took two titles on Friday.

Hosszu started by winning the 200m butterfly by nearly two seconds in 2:09.66 at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center. She captured the 100m backstroke by nearly two seconds in 59.64 a half-hour later, coming from behind at the 50m turn to win in the fourth fastest time of 2014.

Hosszu, 25, is a three-time Olympian and known as the Iron Lady of swimming. She debuted at Athens 2004 at 15, finishing 31st in the 200m free. She was fourth, eighth and ninth in three events at London 2012. She’s preparing for what’s sure to be a busy schedule at the European Championships in August.

She attempted to win a third race in a 55-minute stretch but ran out of gas and finished last in the 400m freestyle. The 400m free winner was five-time 2012 Olympic medalist Allison Schmitt, who prevailed in 4:08.65. Schmitt surprisingly failed to make last year’s World Championships team.

“I’ve definitely learned a lot in the past year,” Schmitt said on Universal Sports. “I’m more motivated right now.”

World bronze medalist Connor Jaeger bagged the men’s 400m free in 3:48.89 over world 200m free silver medalist Conor Dwyer.

Two-time Bahamian Olympian Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won the women’s 50m free in 24.65. U.S. veteran Jessica Hardy was third. American Josh Schneider took the men’s race in 22.17 ahead of Brazil’s second-best sprinter, Bruno Fratus. U.S. Olympic medalists Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones were fourth and fifth.

Micah Lawrence, who was sixth in the 2012 Olympic 200m breaststroke, won the event Saturday in 2:24.68. Anton McKee, the Iceland Olympian who swims for the University of Alabama, won the men’s 200m breast in 2:13.06.

Three-time Russian Olympian Arkady Vyatchanin, who is trying to find a new country to represent, took the men’s 100m backstroke in 53.81.

Andrew Seliskar, 17, came from behind to win the men’s 200m butterfly in 1:57.4.

Phelps back on top, tough swimming next

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2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 4:59 PM EDT

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The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

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

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, was upset in the first round by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. It marked the first time a men’s top-two seed lost in the first round of any major since 2003 Wimbledon (Ivo Karlovic d. Lleyton Hewitt).

All of the American men lost before the fourth round. The last U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals was Andre Agassi in 2003.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek set French Open rematch

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 3:25 PM EDT

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Coco Gauff swept into the French Open quarterfinals, where she plays Iga Swiatek in a rematch of last year’s final.

Gauff, the sixth seed, beat 100th-ranked Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round. She next plays the top seed Swiatek, who later Monday advanced after 66th-ranked Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko retired down 5-1 after taking a medical timeout due to illness.

Gauff earned a 37th consecutive win over a player ranked outside the top 50, dating to February 2022. She hasn’t faced a player in the world top 60 in four matches at Roland Garros, but the degree of difficulty ratchets up in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Swiatek won all 12 sets she’s played against Gauff, who at 19 is the only teenager in the top 49 in the world. Gauff said last week that there’s no point in revisiting last year’s final — a 6-1, 6-3 affair — but said Monday that she should rewatch that match because they haven’t met on clay since.

“I don’t want to make the final my biggest accomplishment,” she said. “Since last year I have been wanting to play her, especially at this tournament. I figured that it was going to happen, because I figured I was going to do well, and she was going to do well.

“The way my career has gone so far, if I see a level, and if I’m not quite there at that level, I know I have to improve, and I feel like you don’t really know what you have to improve on until you see that level.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Also Monday, No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia dispatched 36th-ranked American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1, breaking all eight of Pera’s service games.

Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, has now reached the quarterfinals of all four majors.

Jabeur next faces 14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 over Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, who played on a protected ranking of 68. Haddad Maia became the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era (since 1968) after Maria Bueno, who won seven majors from 1959-1966.

Pera, a 28 year-old born in Croatia, was the oldest U.S. singles player to make the fourth round of a major for the first time since Jill Craybas at 2005 Wimbledon. Her defeat left Gauff as the lone American singles player remaining out of the 35 entered in the main draws.

The last American to win a major singles title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought matches the longest in history (since 1877) for American men and women combined.

In the men’s draw, 2022 French Open runner-up Casper Ruud reached the quarterfinals by beating 35th-ranked Chilean Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5. He’ll next play sixth seed Holger Rune of Denmark, a 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7) winner over 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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