Elizaveta Tuktamysheva leads Skate Canada; Yevgenia Medvedeva struggles

By Nick ZaccardiOct 26, 2018, 10:49 PM EDT

Yevgenia Medvedeva reacted by pointing two gloved fingers, in the shape of a gun, at her forehead and blowing. Seconds later came her Skate Canada short program score.

“Ugh,” new coach Brian Orser said. Medvedeva, sitting to his right in the kiss and cry, shook her head, exhaled and put her chin down.

The Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion is in seventh place going into Saturday’s free skate at her first top-level competition since starting a new skating life in Toronto following disappointment in PyeongChang.

It’s Medvedeva’s first time outside the top three in any program in four seasons as a senior skater.

Her knee just about grazed the ice on a downgraded triple flip, and she put a hand down. She also did not have a jumping combination.

So Medvedeva scored 60.83 points, trailing leader and countrywoman Elizaveta Tuktamysheva by 13.39 in Laval, Quebec.

SKATE CANADA: TV/Stream Schedule | Results

Tuktamysheva, the 2015 World champion who missed Russia’s Olympic team, landed a triple Axel with a positive grade of execution for the first time since December 2015. Tuktamysheva was the Russian superstar before Medvedeva turned senior and won every major competition in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Alina Zagitova passed both of them last year, Olympic champion in her first season as a senior.

Now Tuktamysheva is on the rise. Medvedeva is facing a fourth straight defeat since she returned from a broken bone in her foot in January, following the longest stretch of dominance by a female skater since Katarina Witt in the 1980s.

She wasn’t the only favorite to struggle Friday.

Fellow Olympic silver medalist Shoma Uno fell into the boards on a triple Axel and trails Canadian Keegan Messing by 6.18 points going into the free. Messing, who was 12th in PyeongChang, opened his clean short with a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination.

“Disappointment and regret, those are the emotions about my performance,” Uno said, according to the International Skating Union. “It is not about me taking a high risk, I just can’t do triples.”

American Jason Brown, who missed PyeongChang after placing ninth in Sochi, is 11th of 12 skaters. Brown fell on an under-rotated triple Axel at his first Grand Prix since joining Orser’s training group in Toronto.

In ice dance, U.S. champions and world silver medalists Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue became the first couple to crack 80 points in a rhythm dance this season. Hubbell and Donohue are set to clinch a spot in December’s Grand Prix Final after winning Skate America last week.

In pairs, world bronze medalists Vanessa James and Morgan Ciprès of France posted the world’s best short program score this season — 74.51. They lead Chinese Peng Cheng and Jin Yang by 2.51 points.

The 2017 U.S. champions Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier are in eighth and last place after she fell on their side-by-side triple Salchows and throw triple loop.

As a reminder, you can watch the ISU Grand Prix Series live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. GO HERE to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season…NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.

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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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