Lara Gut-Behrami gets first win in 2 years; Mikaela Shiffrin’s lead shrinks

By OlympicTalkFeb 21, 2020, 8:04 AM EST

Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami, the last woman other than Mikaela Shiffrin to win a World Cup overall title, notched her first World Cup race victory in two years on Friday. Meanwhile, chasers gained on the absent Shiffrin in this season’s overall standings.

Gut-Behrami led a host-nation one-two in a downhill in Crans-Montana. She was followed by downhill standings leader Corinne Suter (eight tenths behind) and Austrian Stephanie Venier (.92 back). Full results are here.

Shiffrin has not raced since the unexpected death of her father on Feb. 2. She has not announced if or when she will return this season.

Slovakian Petra Vlhova was fourth on Friday for her best career World Cup speed race finish. Vlhova, Shiffrin’s top rival in slalom the last few seasons, moved to 104 points behind Shiffrin in the World Cup overall standings through 27 of 40 scheduled races.

Race winners receive 100 points on a descending scale through the 30th-place skier. The season runs through March 22.

American Breezy Johnson was fifth, tying her best World Cup finish in nearly two years. Italian Federica Brignone tied for seventh, moving 77 points shy of Shiffrin’s lead.

Vlhova or Brignone can pass Shiffrin with similar finishes in Saturday’s downhill (4:30 a.m. ET, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA and NBC Sports Gold) and a podium in Sunday’s combined (7:30 a.m. ET, Olympic Channel and Gold).

Gut-Behrami, a 25-time World Cup race winner, was the world’s top skier in 2016. She was in second place to Shiffrin in the 2017 World Cup overall standings when she ruptured her left ACL and sustained meniscus damage. Shiffrin since won the last three overall titles.

Friday marked Gut-Behrami’s first win since Jan. 21, 2018. She recently went nearly one year between podium finishes.

“Sometimes, I’ve been struggling with myself and putting myself under pressure because I wanted to do it again,” Gut-Behrami said. “Then I started thinking, and then I made mistakes.”

Suter, who came into the season without a World Cup win, leads the downhill season standings by 120 points. She can clinch her first World Cup discipline title in Saturday’s penultimate downhill.

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2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 11:11 AM 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

2023 French Open TV, live stream schedule

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 11:10 AM EDT

The French Open airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points at Roland Garros in Paris.

Tennis Channel has live daily coverage with NBC and Peacock coming back for the middle weekend, plus the men’s and women’s singles semifinals and finals.

All NBC TV coverage also streams on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.

It’s the first French Open since 2004 without Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time champion who is out with a hip injury and hopes to return next year for a likely final time.

In his place, the favorites are top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who is tied with Nadal for the men’s record 22 Grand Slam singles titles.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men

No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland is favored to claim a third French Open title, a year after beating American Coco Gauff in the final. She bids to join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win the French Open three or more times since 2000.

The last American to win a major singles title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought matches the longest in history (since 1877) for American men and women combined.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Broadcast Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Platform	Round
Sunday, May 28	5 a.m.-4 p.m.	Tennis Channel	First Round
	12-3 p.m.	Peacock (STREAM LINK)
Monday, May 29	5 a.m.-3 p.m.	Tennis Channel	First Round
	11 a.m.-3 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)
	3-5:30 p.m.	Peacock (STREAM LINK)
Tuesday, May 30	5 a.m.-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel	First Round
Wednesday, May 31	5 a.m.-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Second Round
Thursday, June 1	5 a.m.-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Second Round
Friday, June 2	5 a.m.-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Third Round
Saturday, June 3	5 a.m.-1 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Third Round
	12-3 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)
	3-5:30 p.m.	Peacock (STREAM LINK)
Sunday, June 4	5 a.m.-1 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Fourth Round
	12-3 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)
	3-5:30 p.m.	Peacock (STREAM LINK)
Monday, June 5	5 a.m.-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Fourth Round
Tuesday, June 6	5 a.m.-12 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Quarterfinals
	2-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel
Wednesday, June 7	5 a.m.-12 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Quarterfinals
	2-5 p.m.	Tennis Channel
Thursday, June 8	6 a.m.-2 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Women’s Semifinals
	11 a.m.-2 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)
Friday, June 9	8 a.m.-4 p.m.	Tennis Channel	Men’s Semifinals
	11 a.m.-3 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)
Saturday, June 10	9 a.m.-2 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)	Women’s Final
Sunday, June 11	9 a.m.-2 p.m.	NBC (STREAM) \| Peacock (STREAM)	Men’s Final

2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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