WATCH LIVE: USATF Outdoor Champs with Allyson Felix, Michael Norman

By OlympicTalkJul 27, 2019, 3:00 PM EDT

Getty Images

Allyson Felix and Michael Norman headline day three of the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, live on NBC and NBC Sports Gold on Saturday.

NBC Sports Gold streaming begins at 3 p.m. ET with first-day heptathlon events.

NBC’s broadcast begins at 4 p.m., highlighted by the men’s and women’s 400m finals, where the top three are in line to qualify for the individual 400m at the world championships in Doha in two months. Additional athletes will be named to the team for 4x400m and mixed-gender 4x400m relays.

NBC SPORTS GOLD: 3-6 p.m. ET — STREAM LINK
NBC: 4-6 p.m. ET — STREAM LINK

Allyson Felix headlines the women’s 400m final (5:34 p.m.) in her first meet in more than one year and since becoming a mom in November.

Felix, at 33 and admittedly not at full fitness, qualified 11th into Friday’s semifinals and fifth into the final. It’s expected that top six, and maybe even just making the final, would be enough to get her on a ninth straight world team, given 4x400m relay pools.

There is far less doubt about Norman, the fastest 400m man in the world this year, to make his first world team. The intrigue lies in lane four, where two-time Paralympic medalist and double amputee Blake Leeper lines up.

Oscar Pistorius is the lone double amputee to compete at an able-bodied world championships. Leeper is not expected to be eligible for worlds unless his legal case with the IAAF regarding his prosthetics works out in his favor in the next two months.

Other finals include Olympic champion Brianna McNeal against world-record holder Keni Harrison in the 100m hurdles, Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles and Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Simpson and Shelby Houlihan in the 1500m.

USATF OUTDOORS: TV Schedule | Full Results

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

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.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

2023 French Open men’s singles draw

By OlympicTalkJun 6, 2023, 5:16 PM EDT

Getty

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

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

More: Olympics

2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

More: Olympics