China Olympic men’s hockey roster includes Chris Chelios’ son

By OlympicTalkJan 26, 2022, 7:55 PM EST

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China’s Olympic men’s hockey roster includes familiar names to ardent NHL fans, most notably “Chelios.”

Jake Chelios, a son of Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios, is one of several players on the team with NHL experience. Others include forwards Spencer Foo and Brandon Yip, goalie Jeremy Smith and Chelios’ fellow defenseman Ryan Sproul.

Every member of China’s first Olympic men’s hockey team played club hockey this season for Kunlun Red Star, a Beijing-based KHL team. That made it easier for players with no Chinese heritage, such as Chelios, to become eligible to represent China.

China, ranked 32nd in the world, was given a spot in the 12-nation Beijing Olympic tournament as host nation without having to qualify.

That spot was in danger last fall, when the IIHF considered replacing China with the highest-ranked nation that had failed to qualify (Norway) in part because of concerns over whether China could field a competitive team.

China is grouped with the U.S., Canada and 2018 Olympic silver medalist Germany. The NHL’s withdrawal last month was a benefit to China, which will not have to face the world’s best players from North America anymore.

Still, it is a very long shot to earn any points, let alone reach the quarterfinals.

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🐲 25 #KRS players are about to make history by representing 🇨🇳 #TeamChina at #Beijing2022 Winter Olympic Games!#AllRoadsLeadHome #RedStarHockey pic.twitter.com/jebW288JXf

— Kunlun Red Star (@KRSchina) January 27, 2022

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

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 10:11 AM EDT

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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. Gauff could play top seed and defending champ Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.

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.

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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 at age 19).

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.

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Rafael Nadal expected to miss rest of 2023 season after surgery

By OlympicTalkJun 3, 2023, 8:54 AM EDT

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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.

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