Paralympic Opening Ceremony highlighted by bold call for peace

By OlympicTalkMar 4, 2022, 8:54 AM EST

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The Winter Paralympics began with a 100-minute Opening Ceremony at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium and a powerful speech lighting the way for nine days of medal competition that start Saturday.

China’s Li Duan, a four-time Paralympic champion between the long jump and triple jump, was the final torchbearer, placing his torch in the snowflake-shaped cauldron.

PARALYMPICS: Broadcast Schedule | Viewer Guide | FAQs | Russia, Belarus Barred

Ukraine was the last team to arrive before the Opening Ceremony. Before marching into the open stadium, team members received applause from other athletes and held banners that read, “STOP WAR” and “PEACE FOR UKRAINE,” NBC Sports’ Carolyn Manno reported.

Ukraine was fourth in the Parade of Nations lineup about an hour later. Most of the delegation of 20 athletes and nine guides appeared to be marching. At least three members raised a fist in the air.

“It is a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics,” Ukraine Paralympic Committee President Valerii Sushkevych said after the team arrived on Wednesday. “We are all thinking about our people in Ukraine because, boom, and they are killed, because thousands of people died so we ask all Europe, all world, stop the war. Together.”

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons opened his speech in the stadium with a passionate call for peace.

“As the leader of an organization with inclusion at its core, where diversity is celebrated and differences embraced, I am horrified at what is taking place in the world right now,” he said. “The 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate.”

Later in one segment, a short video titled “WeThe15” played, aiming to increase the visibility, accessibility and inclusion of the world’s 1.2 billion people with disabilities, or 15 percent of the global population.

Alpine skiers Danelle Umstead and Tyler Carter carried the U.S. flag into the stadium.

“So many emotions right now,” Carter said before marching. “It’s been such a hard journey to get to this Games. It’s been a crazy experience, and I’m loving every minute.”

Russia and Belarusian athletes were barred from the Games on Thursday. The Russian Paralympic Committee initially said it planned to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but on Friday said the IPC’s rules prevented them from doing so. It said its athletes will go home, and it may take legal action at a later date.

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"The 21st century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate."

Andrew Parsons, President of International Paralympic Committee, called for peace at the #WinterParalympics Opening Ceremony. pic.twitter.com/QVfe4d1zwa

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) March 4, 2022

Let the Games begin!

The #WinterParalympics cauldron is lit by Li Duan, who is visually impaired, to a roaring applause. pic.twitter.com/Bo5I6p1Mbm

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) March 4, 2022

'@TeamUSA arrives in the Parade of Nations!#WinterParalympics
📺 : @USA_Network and @peacockTV
💻 : https://t.co/qjW1Q4vHtq pic.twitter.com/naHoRaTj4J

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) March 4, 2022

2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 4:59 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 could meet in the 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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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek set French Open rematch

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 3:25 PM EDT

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Coco Gauff swept into the French Open quarterfinals, where she plays Iga Swiatek in a rematch of last year’s final.

Gauff, the sixth seed, beat 100th-ranked Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2 in the fourth round. She next plays the top seed Swiatek, who later Monday advanced after 66th-ranked Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko retired down 5-1 after taking a medical timeout due to illness.

Gauff earned a 37th consecutive win over a player ranked outside the top 50, dating to February 2022. She hasn’t faced a player in the world top 60 in four matches at Roland Garros, but the degree of difficulty ratchets up in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Swiatek won all 12 sets she’s played against Gauff, who at 19 is the only teenager in the top 49 in the world. Gauff said last week that there’s no point in revisiting last year’s final — a 6-1, 6-3 affair — but said Monday that she should rewatch that match because they haven’t met on clay since.

“I don’t want to make the final my biggest accomplishment,” she said. “Since last year I have been wanting to play her, especially at this tournament. I figured that it was going to happen, because I figured I was going to do well, and she was going to do well.

“The way my career has gone so far, if I see a level, and if I’m not quite there at that level, I know I have to improve, and I feel like you don’t really know what you have to improve on until you see that level.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Also Monday, No. 7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia dispatched 36th-ranked American Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-1, breaking all eight of Pera’s service games.

Jabeur, runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, has now reached the quarterfinals of all four majors.

Jabeur next faces 14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who won 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5 over Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo, who played on a protected ranking of 68. Haddad Maia became the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era (since 1968) after Maria Bueno, who won seven majors from 1959-1966.

Pera, a 28 year-old born in Croatia, was the oldest U.S. singles player to make the fourth round of a major for the first time since Jill Craybas at 2005 Wimbledon. Her defeat left Gauff as the lone American singles player remaining out of the 35 entered in the main draws.

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.

In the men’s draw, 2022 French Open runner-up Casper Ruud reached the quarterfinals by beating 35th-ranked Chilean Nicolas Jarry 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5. He’ll next play sixth seed Holger Rune of Denmark, a 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7) winner over 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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