Analyzing U.S. women’s basketball roster for World Championships

By Nick ZaccardiSep 24, 2014, 2:48 PM EDT

The U.S. women’s basketball roster for the FIBA World Championships was finalized Tuesday, including Brittney Griner for the first time at a major tournament along with seven Olympians among 12 players overall.

The U.S. opens group play against China on Wednesday.

Here’s the team:

Guards
Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) — Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012)
Odyssey Sims (Tulsa Shock)
Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) — Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012)
Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx) — Olympian (2012)

Forwards
Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx) — Olympian (2008, 2012)
Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury)
Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream) — Olympian (2012)
Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx) — Olympian (2012)
Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Los Angeles Sparks)
Breanna Stewart (University of Connecticut)

Centers
Tina Charles (New York Liberty) — Olympian (2012)
Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury)

Some notes:

*Bird, the oldest team member at 33, is the first U.S. woman to make four World Championships teams. If she makes the Rio Olympics for her fourth Games, she would be the oldest U.S. Olympic women’s basketball player since Lisa Leslie in 2008. Only Teresa Edwards has played for the U.S. in five Olympic basketball tournaments.

*Stewart, the only college player on the team and a rising UConn junior, is the youngest member at 20 years old. If she makes the Rio Olympics, she would be the youngest U.S. Olympic women’s basketball player since 1988, when the oldest player was 26, according to sports-reference.com.

*The 2012 Olympians not on the 2014 World Championships team are: Tamika Catchings (35), Swin Cash (35), Asjha Jones (34), Sylvia Fowles (28) and Candace Parker (28). Catchings withdrew due to injuries from the WNBA season. Fowles is out with a foot injury. Parker is out with a knee injury.

*Two young players to remember who were not on the 2012 Olympic or 2014 World Championships teams are Skylar Diggins and Elena Delle Donne. Diggins, the former Notre Dame star and 2013 WNBA No. 3 overall pick by the Tulsa Shock, was one of three players cut over the weekend (Jantel Lavender was the final cut Tuesday). Delle Donne, the former Delaware star and 2013 WNBA No. 2 overall pick by the Chicago Sky, withdrew from the national team earlier this month due to injury.

*Ten of the 12 women on the 2010 World Championships roster made the 2012 Olympic team.

*Eight of the 12 women on the 2006 World Championships roster made the 2008 Olympic team.

The FIBA World Championships winner will earn a berth in the 2016 Olympic tournament. If the U.S. does not win, it can still get into the Olympics by winning the 2015 FIBA Americas title.

France beat the U.S. 76-72 in an exhibition on Sunday, the first defeat for the Americans since 2011. The U.S. had crushed France by 36 points in the 2012 Olympic final for its fifth straight gold.

Rio Olympic logo revealed for Team Brazil

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2023 French Open men’s singles draw

By OlympicTalkJun 6, 2023, 5:16 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 meet in Friday’s 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

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz set French Open semifinal showdown

By OlympicTalkJun 6, 2023, 4:45 PM EDT

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will play in the French Open semifinals on Friday in the most anticipated match of the tournament.

Each man advanced with a quarterfinal win on Tuesday.

Djokovic, eyeing a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam men’s singles title, rallied past 11th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4. The Serb reached his 45th career major semifinal, one shy of Roger Federer‘s men’s record.

Later Tuesday, top seed Alcaraz crushed fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (5) to consolidate his status as the favorite in Friday’s showdown.

Alcaraz, who at last year’s U.S. Open became the first male teen to win a major since Rafael Nadal in 2005, is at this event the youngest man to be the top seed at a major since Boris Becker at 1987 Wimbledon.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

The Djokovic-Alcaraz semifinal will produce the clear favorite for Sunday’s final given left-handed 14-time French Open champion Nadal is out this year with a hip injury and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev lost in the first round. Djokovic and Nadal share the record 22 men’s major titles.

Djokovic and Alcaraz met once, with Alcaraz winning last year on clay in Madrid 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5).

“[Alcaraz] brings a lot of intensity on the court,” Djokovic said, before breaking into a smile. “Reminds me of someone from his country that plays with a left hand.”

Alcaraz and Djokovic were set to be on opposite halves of the draw — and thus not able to meet until the final — until Medvedev won the last top-level clay event before the French Open to move ahead of Djokovic in the rankings. That meant Djokovic had a 50 percent chance to wind up in Alcaraz’s half, and that’s what the random draw spit out two weeks ago.

Earlier Tuesday in the first two women’s quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and 43rd-ranked Czech Karolina Muchova advanced to face off in Thursday’s semifinals.

Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, swept Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-4 to complete her set of semifinals in all four Grand Slams. Sabalenka will take the No. 1 ranking from Iga Swiatek if Swiatek loses before the final, or if Sabalenka makes the final and Swiatek does not win the title.

Svitolina, a former world No. 3, returned to competition in April from childbirth.

Muchova took out 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 7-5, 6-2, to make her second major semifinal after the 2021 Australian Open.

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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