Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin finish Santa Clara meet with differing results

By Nick ZaccardiJun 21, 2015, 10:32 PM EDT

Michael Phelps won two of his five events at a Pro Swim Series meet in Santa Clara, Calif., this weekend, capping the competition with a 200m individual medley victory Sunday.

Missy Franklin went winless in five events in her first meet since the NCAA Championships in March.

Santa Clara marked the biggest meet between now and the World Championships in Kazan, Russia, that start Aug. 2. Phelps will not swim at the World Championships as part of punishment for his September DUI arrest.

On Sunday, Phelps won the 200m individual medley in 1:59.39, his fastest time in that event this year and ranking 18th fastest in the world for 2015. Phelps, the three-time reigning Olympic 200m IM champion, swam it in 1:56.04 in 2014 to rank third in the world.

Phelps also finished ninth in the nine-man 200m backstroke, an event he rarely swims at the international level. Rising California junior Ryan Murphy won that race in 1:57.06, adding to his 100m back victory Saturday.

Phelps won the 200m butterfly on Saturday to snap a six-race winless streak. In his last meet in Charlotte in May, Phelps finished no better than third in all of his races for the first time since the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

“I’m happy where I am now,” Phelps told media in Santa Clara. “I’m happy I’m finishing races like I have.”

Phelps said he will head to Colorado for altitude training on Monday for three weeks and next compete in a smaller meet in July before he heads to the U.S. Championships in San Antonio, Aug. 6-10.

Franklin, a four-time 2012 Olympic champion, placed third in the 200m backstroke and sixth in the 100m freestyle Sunday. She had finished third in the 100m back Saturday and third in the 200m freestyle and eighth in the 50m back Friday.

“A lot of mixed feelings,” said Franklin, who doesn’t think she will compete again before Worlds. “I haven’t raced this tired in a long time [due to hard training] … All my strokes felt really strong and powerful. There just wasn’t a whole lot of speed there, which, I guess, is right where I want to be right now going into Worlds.”

Franklin was beaten in both backstrokes by Hungary’s FINA Swimmer of the Year Katinka Hosszu, who capped a five-win meet with 200m IM and 200m back victories Sunday.

Hosszu, nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her heavy workloads, won 14 of her 21 races over the last three Pro Swim Series meets in Mesa, Ariz., Charlotte, N.C., and Santa Clara, setting her up well for the World Championships.

The Netherlands’ Femke Heemskerk followed her 200m free win Friday by taking the 100m free Sunday in 53.64. Heemskerk and Australian Cate Campbell are the only women to break 53 seconds this year, both going 52.69 in April.

World silver medalist Lotte Friis of Denmark won the women’s 800m free in 8:25.33, well off Olympic and World champion Katie Ledecky‘s 8:11.21 from January. Nobody has been within 10 seconds of Ledecky’s best time this year.

Dana Vollmer not retired, returns to practice after childbirth

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At the French Open, a Ukrainian mom makes her comeback

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 5:15 PM EDT

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, once the world’s third-ranked tennis player, is into the French Open third round in her first major tournament since childbirth.

Svitolina, 28, swept 2022 French Open semifinalist Martina Trevisan of Italy, then beat Australian qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the last 32 at Roland Garros. She next plays 56th-ranked Russian Anna Blinkova, who took out the top French player, fifth seed Caroline Garcia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on her ninth match point.

Svitolina’s husband, French player Gael Monfils, finished his first-round five-set win after midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. She watched that match on a computer before going to sleep ahead of her 11 a.m. start Wednesday.

“This morning, he told me, ‘I’m coming to your match, so make it worth it,'” she joked on Tennis Channel. “I was like, OK, no pressure.

“I don’t know what he’s doing here now. He should be resting.”

Also Wednesday, 108th-ranked Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis ousted three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in four and a half hours. Wawrinka’s exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the lone man in the draw who has won the French Open and Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz as the lone men left who have won any major.

The top seed Alcaraz beat 112th-ranked Taro Daniel of Japan 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The Spaniard gets 26th seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the third round. Djokovic, the No. 3 seed, swept 83rd-ranked Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (2), 6-0, 6-3 to reach a third-round date with 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Svitolina made at least one major quarterfinal every year from 2017 through 2021, including the semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2019. She married Monfils one week before the Tokyo Olympics, then won a singles bronze medal.

Svitolina played her last match before maternity leave on March 24, 2022, one month after Russia invaded her country. She gave birth to daughter Skai on Oct. 15.

Svitolina returned to competition in April. Last week, she won the tournament preceding the French Open, sweeping Blinkova to improve to 17-3 in her career in finals. She’s playing on a protected ranking of 27th after her year absence and, now, on a seven-match win streak.

“It was always in my head the plan to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” she said. “I’m as strong as I was before, maybe even stronger, because I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court, and match by match I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental can influence your physicality, as well.”

Svitolina said she’s motivated by goals to attain before she retires from the sport and to help Ukraine, such as donating her prize money from last week’s title in Strasbourg.

“These moments bring joy to people of Ukraine, to the kids as well, the kids who loved to play tennis before the war, and now maybe they don’t have the opportunity,” she said. “But these moments that can motivate them to look on the bright side and see these good moments and enjoy themselves as much as they can in this horrible situation.”

Svitolina was born in Odesa and has lived in Kharkiv, two cities that have been attacked by Russia.

“I talk a lot with my friends, with my family back in Ukraine, and it’s a horrible thing, but they are used to it now,” she said. “They are used to the alarms that are on. As soon as they hear something, they go to the bomb shelters. Sleepless nights. You know, it’s a terrible thing, but they tell me that now it’s a part of their life, which is very, very sad.”

Svitolina noted that she plays with a flag next to her name — unlike the Russians and Belarusians, who are allowed to play as neutral athletes.

“When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine,” she said, “and me, I’m fighting here on my own front line.”

Svitolina said that she’s noticed “a lot of rubbish” concerning how tennis is reacting to the war.

“We have to focus on what the main point of what is going on,” she said. “Ukrainian people need help and need support. We are focusing on so many things like empty words, empty things that are not helping the situation, not helping anything.

“I want to invite everyone to focus on helping Ukrainians. That’s the main point of this, to help kids, to help women who lost their husbands because they are at the war, and they are fighting for Ukraine.

“You can donate. Couple of dollars might help and save lives. Or donate your time to something to help people.”

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2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 5:10 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.

Turning 22 during the tournament, 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, and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the No. 4 seed and Wimbledon champion, are the top challengers in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, are the best hopes 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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