Event preview, how to watch Four Continents Figure Skating Championships

By Rachel LutzFeb 6, 2019, 8:00 AM EST

The figure skating season continues for Bradie Tennell, Mariah Bell, Jason Brown, Vincent Zhou, and the formidable group of U.S. ice dancers at the Four Continents Championships this weekend in Anaheim, Calif.

The competition returns to the United States for the first time in seven years; Colorado Springs hosted in 2006, 2007, and 2012.

NBC Sports Gold’s “Figure Skating Pass” will live stream every program from Anaheim from competition. The action begins Thursday with the ladies’ short program.

NBCSN and NBC will also have live coverage of senior competition throughout the weekend.

Four Continents includes skaters from essentially everywhere but Europe, and is the final major tune-up event prior to March’s world championships.

Let’s take a closer look at each discipline in Anaheim:

ENTRIES: Ladies | Men | Pairs | Dance

Ladies

It’s entirely possible that Japan sweeps the ladies’ podium in Anaheim. Rika Kihira (the triple Axel-ing Grand Prix Final champion), Mai Mihara (gold and silver medalist the past two years at Four Continents), and Kaori Sakamoto (last year’s Four Continents champion and 2018 Olympian) will skate at Four Continents.

The American skaters include Bradie Tennell and Mariah Bell who finished with silver and bronze medals at nationals last month, respectively, plus Ting Cui, who finished fourth. Alysa Liu won nationals but is not age-eligible to compete at senior level international events, such as Four Continents or the world championships.

Men

Japan’s Shoma Uno boasts the most impressive resume in the men’s field. The Olympic and two-time Worlds silver medalist is joined by countrymen Keiji Tanaka and Kazuki Tomono in Japan. Uno will likely have to be clean to win, however.

China’s Boyang Jin, who has struggled internationally this season but finished fourth in PyeongChang, is also in the field.

Other notable men include South Korea’s Junhwah Cha who won bronze medals at both of his Grand Prix assignments this fall — plus a bronze in the Final — and Grand Prix Final qualifier Keegan Messing from Canada.

They’ll face a strong American contingent made up of Jason Brown, Vincent Zhou, and Tomoki Hiwatashi: the second, third and fourth place finishers from the national championships in January. The three-time U.S. champion, Nathan Chen, won’t compete in Anaheim but is expected at the upcoming world championships.

Pairs

The highly anticipated international season debut for Sui Wenjing and Han Cong highlights the pairs field. The PyeongChang silver medalists and 2017 world champions missed the fall Grand Prix Series as Sui recovered from a stress fracture in her foot.

Sui and Han’s teammates Peng Cheng and Jin Yang will also be in the hunt for the podium, as well as Canada’s Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro.

An American team could sneak onto the podium as well. Newly-crowned national champions Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc lead the charge, alongside national silver medalists Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier and fourth-place finishers Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea.

Kayne and O’Shea won the event last year, and were joined on the podium by Cain and LeDuc who earned silver.

Ice dance

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue have won everything they’ve entered this season: Skate America, Skate Canada, the Grand Prix Final, and the U.S. Championships. They could lead a U.S. dance podium sweep alongside their Montreal-based training mates Madison Chock and Evan Bates and Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker, who finished second and third at nationals.

Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, however, look to split up the Americans. They only competed once this season, winning the B-level Autumn Classic, and instead toured in shows throughout the fall. They won Four Continents in 2015.

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Four Continents Figure Skating Championships broadcast schedule (all times Eastern):

Thursday

3:30 p.m.: Ladies’ short program (GOLD STREAM LINK), also on NBCSN beginning at 5 p.m.

9:15 p.m.: Men’s short program (GOLD STREAM LINK), also on NBCSN beginning at 11:30 p.m.

Friday

2:45 p.m.: Pairs’ short program (GOLD STREAM LINK)

6 p.m.: Rhythm dance (GOLD STREAM LINK)

10 p.m.: Ladies’ free skate (GOLD STREAM LINK), also on NBCSN beginning at midnight

Saturday

5 p.m.: Pairs’ free skate (GOLD STREAM LINK)

10 p.m.: Men’s free skate (GOLD STREAM LINK), also on NBCSN beginning at 11 p.m.

Sunday

4 p.m.: Free dance (GOLD STREAM LINK), also on NBCSN beginning at midnight

Taylor Fritz becomes crowd enemy at French Open

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 7:25 PM EDT

Getty

The French Open crowd was not happy with American player Taylor Fritz after he beat one of their own — indeed, their last man in the bracket — so they booed and whistle relentlessly. Fritz’s response? He told them to shush. Over and over again.

Fritz, a 25-year-old from California who is seeded No. 9 at Roland Garros, got into a back-and-forth with the fans at Court Suzanne Lenglen after his 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory over 78th-ranked Arthur Rinderknech in the second round on Thursday night.

Rinderknech attempted a lob that landed long on the last point, and Fritz, who had been running toward the baseline to chase the ball, immediately looked up into the stands and pressed his right index finger to his lips to say, essentially, “Hush!”

.@Taylor_Fritz97 fights off Rinderknech and the French crowd to earn a 2-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 win!

Faces Cerundolo next for a spot in the Fourth Round. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/156koAad5w

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 1, 2023

He held that pose for a bit as he headed back toward the net for a postmatch handshake, then spread his arms wide, wind-milled them a bit as if to egg on the rowdiness, and yelled: “Come on! I want to hear it!”

During the customary winner’s on-court interview that followed, more jeers rained down on Fritz, and 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli kept pausing her attempts to ask a question into her microphone.

So Fritz again said, “Shhhhh!” and put his finger toward his mouth, while Bartoli unsuccessfully tried to get the spectators to lower their decibel level.

More boos. More whistles.

And the awkwardness continued as both Bartoli and a stadium announcer kept saying, “S’il vous plaît” — “Please!” — to no avail, while Fritz stood there with his arms crossed.

A few U.S. supporters with signs and flags drew Fritz’s attention from the front row, and he looked over and said to them, “I love you guys.”

But the interview was still on hold.

Bartoli tried asking a question in English, which only served to draw more boos.

So Fritz told her he couldn’t hear her. Bartoli moved closer and finally got out a query — but it didn’t seem to matter what her words were.

Fritz, who has been featured on the Netflix docuseries about tennis called “Break Point,” had his hands on his hips and a message on his mind — one reminiscent of Daniil Medvedev’s contretemps with fans at the 2019 U.S. Open.

“I came out and the crowd was so great honestly. Like, the crowd was just so great,” Fritz said, as folks tried to drown out his voice. “They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure that I won. Thanks, guys.”

And with that, he exited the stage.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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"The crowd was just so great that I had to let it fire me up. They cheered so well for me, I wanted to make sure I won. Thanks guys." 😂@Taylor_Fritz97 | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/NieIPfo59e

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 1, 2023

French Open: Coco Gauff to face younger opponent for first time at a Grand Slam

By OlympicTalkJun 1, 2023, 5:26 PM EDT

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Coco Gauff‘s first 49 Grand Slam main draw singles matches were all against older opponents. Her 50th will be against a younger one.

The sixth-seeded Gauff reached the French Open third round by beating 61st-ranked Austrian Julia Grabher 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. Gauff, 19, next plays 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the round of 32 on Saturday.

“I don’t see age as a factor,” said Gauff, who has practiced with Andreeva. “When you step on the court, you just see your opponent, and you don’t really think about the personal side of things. You just see forehand, backhand, serve, and all the same.”

Gauff made her major debut at age 15 in 2019 by beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon. In her 15 majors, Gauff has usually been the youngest male or female singles player, including most recently at 2022 Wimbledon. She is still the lone teenager in the WTA top 49.

But that may soon change. Youngsters from the Czech Republic and Russia are on the rise. Such as Andreeva, who, at No. 143 in the world and climbing, is the highest-ranked player under the age of 18. And she doesn’t turn 17 until next April. Andreeva dropped just six games in her first two matches, fewest of any woman.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

But Gauff is still in a class of her own among her generation, having at last year’s French Open become the youngest major finalist since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at 17. She somehow flew somewhat under the radar into Paris this year with a 4-4 record this spring and in between full-time coaches.

She has now won back-to-back matches for the first time since March, rallying past 71st-ranked Spaniard Rebeka Masarova in the first round and then dispatching an error-prone Grabher, a runner-up at a low-level clay event last week.

The other three seeds in Gauff’s section have all lost, so she would not play a seed until the quarterfinals. And that would be No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who has won all 12 sets they’ve played, including in last year’s French Open final.

“I lost that final, and like for like a week or two, I really thought it was the worst thing ever,” Gauff said. “There’s no point in me revisiting last year. It’s in the past. It was a great tournament, but I’m looking forward for more this week.”

While the men’s draw has been upended by 14-time champion Rafael Nadal‘s pre-event withdrawal and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev‘s loss in the first round, the top women have taken care of business.

The top four seeds — Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, American Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan — all reached the third round without dropping a set.

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