Steve Cash, sled hockey stalwart and 3-time Paralympic champion, retires

By OlympicTalkOct 25, 2021, 4:00 PM EDT

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Steve Cash, perhaps the most decorated athlete in the history of sled hockey (also known as sledge or Para ice hockey), announced his retirement Monday.

The announcement comes just over four months before the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics, which would have marked his fifth Paralympic Games.

The 32-year-old goaltender is tied (with teammates Nikko Landeros, Adam Page, Josh Pauls) for the most Paralympic gold medals with three, and has a U.S.-record eight world championship appearances. The U.S. won the World Sled Hockey Challenge eight times in Cash’s 13 tournaments.

In his 13-year span of those eight worlds, Cash stopped the U.S. to an unmatched five world titles, two silver medals and one bronze.

“It has been quite the journey and an honor to represent my country,” Cash in a USA Hockey release. “I want to thank all of teammates throughout the years along with the supporters I have gained along the way. You guys have made the journey what it is.”

Cash and the U.S. team earned bronze in his 2006 Paralympic debut, before beginning a reign of dominance that produced three gold medals from 2010 to 2018. He also took bronze at his first worlds in 2008, with the golds coming in 2009, 2012, 2015, 2019 and earlier this year; the Americans settled for silver to longtime rival Canada in 2013 and 2017.

One of the faces of the U.S. team, his 16 years in the net for the national team produced 119 wins in 159 games.

He earned an ESPY in 2010 and was named Paralympic SportsMan of the Year in 2009 by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

“It’s not often that you meet someone as talented and as humble as Steve Cash,” USA Hockey director of sled national teams Dan Brennan said in the release. “Steve has had an amazing career with the national team. He’s a great hockey player, but an even better human being. He has been the foundation of this team for 16 years now and it has been an absolute privilege to work with him all this time. I wish him nothing but the best in all of his future endeavors.”

The U.S. will aim for a fourth straight Paralympic gold medal in March, likely with 35-year-old Jen Lee in net. The former U.S. Army sergeant was on the past two Paralympic teams and four world teams since 2013.

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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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