Tokyo Olympics will have no spectators at venues in Tokyo

By OlympicTalkJul 8, 2021, 6:20 PM EDT

Getty Images

The Tokyo Olympics will not have spectators at venues in Tokyo and any areas of the country that are under new measures to combat a rise in coronavirus cases.

“Venues in Tokyo will be not including spectators,” Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic minister Tamayo Marukawa said, according to a translator.

The International Olympic Committee supported the decision in a joint statement with local organizers, the Japanese government and the International Paralympic Committee.

Spectators will be allowed at some venues outside of Tokyo where the measures are not currently in place.

The Opening Ceremony is July 23. Opening and Closing Ceremonies, track and field (except marathons and race walks), swimming and gymnastics are among the events that take place in Tokyo and will not have spectators.

“A very heavy judgment was made,” Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto said, according to a translator. “We are now faced with the COVID-19 [resurgence], so we have no other choice but to hold the Games in a limited way. … We are very sorry we are able to deliver only a limited version of the Games, but we want to have thorough operation to deliver safe and secure Games.”

Competition begins July 21 with softball and soccer games in Fukushima, where spectators are as of now allowed. Fukushima is 150 miles north of Tokyo.

On road events that don’t have spectators in the traditional stadium sense, including road cycling, triathlons, marathons and race walks, “There will be a request for refraining from going to the road side to cheer,” Hashimoto said.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided Thursday to issue a what it calls a “state of emergency” from Monday to Aug. 22.

A main focus of the emergency is a request for bars, restaurants and karaoke parlors serving alcohol to close.

Previously, organizers announced that overseas spectators will not be allowed inside Olympic venues.

A decision on spectators for the Tokyo Paralympics, which open Aug. 24, will be taken after the Olympics close Aug. 8.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

#Tokyo2020 Spectators Policy: mostly 'no spectators'

All five parties deeply regret for the athletes and for the spectators that this measure had to be put in place. pic.twitter.com/oKcXpx3lfP

— Tristan Lavier (@trilavier) July 8, 2021

Coco Gauff rallies past 16-year-old at French Open

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 10:30 AM EDT

Getty

Coco Gauff rallied to defeat 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the French Open third round in Gauff’s first Grand Slam singles match against a younger opponent.

The sixth seed Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, outlasted Andreeva 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-1 to reach the fourth round, where she will play Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or American Kayla Day.

“She’s super young, so she has a lot to look forward to,” Gauff, 19, said on Tennis Channel. “I’m sure we’re going to have many more battles in the future. … I remember when I was 16. I didn’t care who I was playing against, and she has that kind of game and mentality, too.”

Gauff could play top seed and defending champ Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. Swiatek on Saturday thumped 80th-ranked Wang Xinyu of China 6-0, 6-0, winning 50 of the 67 points in a 51-minute match.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

This week, Andreeva became the youngest player to win a French Open main draw match since 2005 (when 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria made the quarterfinals). She was bidding to become the youngest to make the last 16 of any major since Gauff’s breakout as a 15-year-old.

The American made it that far at 2019 Wimbledon (beating Venus Williams in her Grand Slam main draw debut) and the 2020 Australian Open (beating defending champion Naomi Osaka) before turning 16. At last year’s French Open, Gauff became the youngest player to make a Grand Slam final since Maria Sharapova won 2004 Wimbledon at 17.

This was only Gauff’s third match against a younger player dating to her tour debut in 2019. It took Gauff 50 Grand Slam matches to finally face a younger player on this stage, a testament to how ahead of the curve she was (and still is).

While Gauff is the only teenager ranked in the top 49 in the world, Andreeva is the highest-ranked player under the age of 18 at No. 143 (and around No. 100 after the French). And she doesn’t turn 17 until next April. Andreeva dropped just six games in her first two matches at this French Open, fewest of any woman.

Gauff is the last seeded American woman left in the draw after No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 20 Madison Keys and No. 32 Shelby Rogers previously lost.

The last U.S. woman to win a major title was Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major span without an American champ is the longest for U.S. women since Monica Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

Rafael Nadal expected to miss rest of 2023 season after surgery

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 8:54 AM EDT

Getty

Rafael Nadal is expected to need five months to recover from arthroscopic surgery for a left hip flexor injury that kept him out of the French Open, effectively ruling him out for the rest of 2023 ATP tournament season.

Nadal underwent the surgery Friday night in Barcelona on the eve of his 37th birthday. He posted that, if all goes well, the recovery time is five months.

The timetable leaves open the possibility that Nadal could return for the Nov. 21-26 Davis Cup Finals team event in Malaga, Spain, which take place after the ATP Tour tournament season ends.

Nadal announced on May 18 that he had to withdraw from the French Open, a tournament he won a record 14 times, due to the injury that’s sidelined him since January’s Australian Open.

Nadal also said he will likely retire from professional tennis in the second half of 2024 after a farewell season that he hopes includes playing at Roland Garros twice — for the French Open and then the Paris Olympics.

When Nadal returns to competition, he will be older than any previous Grand Slam singles champion in the Open Era.

Nadal is tied with Novak Djokovic for the men’s record 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

While Nadal needs to be one of the four-highest ranked Spanish men after next year’s French Open for direct Olympic qualification in singles, he can, essentially, temporarily freeze his ranking in the top 20 under injury protection rules.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

More: Olympics

More: Olympics

More: Olympics