2020 Skate America TV, live stream schedule

By OlympicTalkOct 24, 2020, 5:40 AM EDT

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NBC Sports and Peacock combine to air comprehensive live coverage of Skate America from Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.

Olympians and national champions Nathan Chen, Bradie Tennell and Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue headline the fields for the first event of the Grand Prix season, 16 months before the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

In addition to live NBC and NBCSN TV coverage, every session will air live for subscribers of Peacock Premium, NBC Universal’s new streaming service, available here.

Skate America will be held without ticketed spectators and with mostly U.S. skaters due to coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions on gatherings and travel.

It’s the first top-level figure skating competition in more than eight months after last season’s world championships were canceled.

Chen, undefeated since placing fifth at the PyeongChang Winter Games, bids to tie the record of four consecutive Skate America titles shared by Michelle Kwan, Todd Eldredge and ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. His primary competition is Olympic teammate Vincent Zhou.

Tennell, the 2018 U.S. champion, and Mariah Bell, the 2020 U.S. silver medalist, are among 11 U.S. women entered. Though two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu is too young for Skate America, this week will help determine the top challenger to dethrone Liu at nationals in San Jose in January.

Hubbell and Donohue go for their third straight Skate America ice dance crown. Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the 2014 and 2015 Skate America champs, withdrew from the event, citing their training being affected by the pandemic and a focus on nationals.

The pairs’ event could be wide open with three teams of national champions — Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea and the new team of Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Brandon Frazier, who earned national titles what past partners.

Skate America Live Broadcast Schedule

Day	Program	Time (ET)	Network
Friday	Short Programs	8 p.m.-12 a.m.	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
	Women’s Short	7:06 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
	Men’s Short	8:56 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
	Pairs’ Short	10:46 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
	Rhythm Dance	12:20 a.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
Saturday	Free Skates	3-6 p.m.	NBC \| STREAM LINK
	Free Skates	9 p.m.-12 a.m.	NBCSN \| STREAM LINK
	Women’s Free	1:59 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
	Men’s Free	4:03 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
	Pairs’ Free	8:43 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order
	Free Dance	10:17 p.m.	Peacock Premium \| Skate Order

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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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