Shibutanis win Skate America, near Davis/White record (video)

By Nick ZaccardiNov 26, 2017, 3:27 PM EST

Four years ago, siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani went to Skate America and finished third, more than 30 points behind Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Davis and White became the first U.S. Olympic ice dance champions later that winter. The Shibutanis were ninth.

Four years brought change. Davis and White haven’t competed since Sochi and won’t defend their title in PyeongChang.

No worry, the Shibutanis took over and now lead the deepest ice dance nation in the world (surpassing Olympic teammates Madison Chock and Evan Bates). They earned world championships silver medals in 2016 and bronze medals last season.

They won Skate America convincingly on Sunday, tallying 194.25 points, a personal best by nearly three points in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Only Davis and White’s Sochi Olympic score is higher in U.S. history, though scores rise overall every year.

The Shibutanis prevailed by 12.62 points over Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte, who won the 2014 World title, one month after the Winter Games.

So it wasn’t quite Davis/White dominance, but they have now won five straight Grand Prix series events dating to 2015.

“Every competition is a stepping stone, and the obvious goal is making sure that the programs and we are at our very best in February,” Alex said.

MORE: Full Results | Figure Skating TV Schedule

The Shibutanis are Olympic medal favorites, looking to become the first siblings to win Olympic figure skating medals together since France’s Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay in 1992.

France’s Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron and Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir figure to fight for gold.

An American couple should join them on the podium, but which one?

There are Chock and Bates, two-time world medalists. There are Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, who had the top score among all U.S. couples this season before the Shibutanis’ exquisite performances in Lake Placid.

“We never really pay too close attention to the scores that we get,” Alex said. “It’s more the feeling that we have. … There’s definitely room for growth in our base values with the footwork sequences in the free dance. So our score can improve.”

For the third straight year, those three U.S. couples will make up half of the Grand Prix Final field in two weeks.

The Grand Prix Final takes the top six per discipline from the fall Grand Prix season, which essentially makes it an Olympic preview this year.

Four years ago, the Shibutanis, Chock and Bates and Hubbell and Donohue ranked Nos. 7, 8 and 9 in the Grand Prix season. They could only watch as Davis and White won the Grand Prix Final en route to Olympic gold.

Now, it’s their turn, and the brother and sister known as the Shib Sibs lead the way.

“This is the competition that we wanted to have before the Grand Prix Final,” Maia said.

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VIDEO: Skater dislocates shoulder in Skate America fall

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Skate America
Ice Dance
1. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) — 194.25
2. Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA) — 181.63
3. Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) — 176.53
5. Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA) — 163.53
9. Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons (USA) — 145.54

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz set French Open semifinal showdown

By OlympicTalkJun 6, 2023, 6:59 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.

“This match, everyone wants to watch,” Alcaraz said. “I really wanted to play this match as well. I always say that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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.

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

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

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