For the first time in his career, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz won the Roland-Garros tournament. With six medals, three of which are gold, the French are smiling at the European Athletics Championships. On the other hand, the football Blues showed a less attractive face by only obtaining a draw against Canada. Here’s what to remember from the sports weekend.
Published on: 06/10/2024 – 10:42
6 mn
The sporting events that you shouldn’t miss this weekend: here is the France 24 sports recap.
Alcaraz wins Roland Garros for the first time
Carlos Alcaraz is the winner of the 2024 edition of Roland-Garros. Only 21 years old, the Spaniard now has three of the four major tournaments that make up the Grand Slam under his belt, with three titles (US Open, Wimbledon and Roland-Garros) in just three finals. The world number 3 beat Alexander Zverev on Sunday in a final with a strong emotional scenario. Well into his match, Alcaraz showed a lot of inconsistency before achieving an exceptional fifth decisive set. Final score: 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. It is an important victory for the worthy successor of Rafal Nadal. However, he had been having a difficult season until then – he had also arrived in Paris to convalesce after an injury to his right forearm. This success could give him confidence as he approaches a busy summer between Wimbledon and the Olympic Games.
A fourth title for Swiatek at Roland-Garros
Iga Swiatek continues to display her domination on the women’s circuit. The 23-year-old Pole won her fourth Roland-Garros in as many finals on Saturday. Only Margaret Smith Court (5), Steffi Graf (6) and Chris Evert (7) have done better in history. The Warsaw native largely dominated Jasmine Paolini in the final, leaving her with only three games (6-2, 6-1). The world number 1 only lost one set in two weeks, during the second round of the Paris tournament against Naomi Osaka. Swiatek will now begin her season on grass in order to seek her first victory at Wimbledon, a tournament where she has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals.
French athletes celebrating at the European Championship
It was an emotional lift for Alice Finot and the French athletics team on Sunday evening at the European Championships in Rome: winner of the 3,000 meter steeplechase after a perfectly managed race, the Frenchwoman was then disqualified, before finally be reclassified.
The reason ? Two supports placed on the interior white line at the crossing of a river and therefore a protest from the German Federation, whose athlete Gesa Felicitas Krause had finished second. The French Athletics Federation (FFA) protested in turn and after endless back and forth, Alice Finot definitively regained her title, as the FFA announced more than two hours after the race.
🏆Forever the first!
🔥At the end of a final crazy lap, Alice Finot is the new European champion in the 3000 m steeplechase! She is the first French athlete to win this title. Gorgeous !
💻 The competition can be followed LIVE on @francetvsport#Roma2024 pic.twitter.com/QdYvBk6yRo
— FFAthlétisme (@FFAthletisme) June 9, 2024
France therefore concludes the third day of the European Championships with four additional medals: gold for Finot but also the title for Gabriel Tual in the 800 m and the bronze medals for Ilionis Guillaume in the triple jump and Agathe Guillemot in the 1500 m. All in just over half an hour in the Roman Olympic stadium. With six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze), France currently occupies second place in the table of these championships which take place until June 12 in the Italian capital.
The Blues without bite
Without Kylian Mbappé, spared at the kick-off and only entering in the 74th minute of play, the offensive sector of the France team did not find solutions against the modest Canada team (0-0), Sunday at Bordeaux. Something to be concerned about, one week before the Blues enter the competition for Euro 2024.
Vannes, first Breton rugby club to join the Top 14
Brittany will be represented for the first time in the Top 14 next season thanks to Vannes’ victory against Grenoble (16-9) in the Pro D2 final on Saturday in Toulouse in a superb atmosphere. After three failures in the semi-finals (2019, 2021 and 2023), this time they won the title of Pro D2 champion and the ticket for the Top 14 that goes with it.
Boston takes the break in the NBA
The Boston Celtics fulfilled their mission at the start of the NBA final by containing the Dallas Mavericks (105-98) on Sunday to lead 2-0 and consider the rest in Texas with serenity. Without the offensive orgy of the first game, the Celtics collective took the upper hand quite clearly over Dallas and Luka Doncic to find themselves two wins away from a record 18th NBA title in this best-of-seven-match series.
The Slovenian Luka Doncic, first Maverick in history in triple-double (32 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) during an NBA final, once again carried Dallas, without breaking through the lock of the Celtics’ suffocating defense.
Elite basketball final: Monaco regains the ascendancy
The Roca Team, defending champion of France, offered itself the possibility of winning a new coronation on Wednesday during the fourth and next match of the final against Paris Basketball. The Monegasques largely won on Sunday in Paris (88-59), the place where the next round of this final will also take place. If it does not win this decisive meeting, the Rocher club will have a fifth match in the Principality on Friday. “We don’t want to come back to play a Game 5 at home,” warned fullback Élie Okobo. “We want to finish here.”
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French striker Olivier Giroud, during the friendly match against Canada, June 9, 2024 in Bordeaux. AFP – ROMAIN PERROCHEAU
Striker Olivier Giroud wore the captain’s armband for his last match in France with the Blue jersey against Canada on Sunday in Bordeaux. For this last performance in France, the 37-year-old unfortunately did not weigh in. He attempted an acrobatic recovery (61′) just before being replaced – a gladiator exit, given a standing ovation by a crowd who celebrated him royally throughout the match.
