Coco Gauff became a two-time Grand Slam champion on Saturday when she defeated world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Roland Garros in three sets.
The 21-year-old dropped only her second set of the tournament after losing the opening tiebreaker but fought back in style to level the scores before going on to win 7-6, 2-6, 4-6 after two hours and 38 minutes on a blustery Court Philippe Chatrier.
The former US Open champion, who was brushed aside in her first Paris final against Iga Swiatek two years ago, became the first American woman to capture the singles title since Serena Williams in 2015.
Gauff is also the youngest player to be win both the Flushing Meadows and Roland Garros crowns since countrywoman Williams in 2002.
“I was going through a lot of things when I lost this final three years ago, so it means a lot to be back and here and to win,” admitted Gauff on court after a final that saw a combined total of 100 unforced errors and 15 breaks of serve.
“Aryna, you are a fighter, you're the number one player in the world and I know today was a tough match but hopefully we will get to play again in the future.
“I want to thank my team. You are always pushing me. I know sometimes I'm not easy to work with, but thank you for everything you do. I appreciate you guys.
“I also want to thank my parents – from washing my clothes to keeping me grounded you always believe in me. You guys are the reason I do this and inspire me more than anything.
“I want to thank the crowd too. You really helped me today, you were cheering so hard and I don't know what I do to deserve so much love from the French crowd but Merci beaucoup.
It was a second straight Grand Slam final loss for Sabalenka – who made 70 unforced errors – after her defeat by Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January.
And in her on-court interview, the tearful Belarusian apologised to her team calling her performance “terrible”.
“Honestly guys, this one hurts so much, especially after such a tough two weeks playing great tennis under these terrible conditions,” said Sabalenka who missed out on claiming her first French Open title.
“To show such terrible tennis in the final does really hurt, but it's OK. “Anyway, congratulations to Coco. In these tough conditions, you were a better player than me.
“Well done on a great two weeks. Congratulations on a second Grand Slam, it is well-deserved. You are a fighter and a hard-worker, so congratulations to you and your team.
“Thank you guys for the atmosphere. I really enjoy every second of being out here playing in front of you all and it was a great two weeks.”
It was Sabalenka who drew first blood in the French capital, but only after an enthralling battle that saw the Belarusian storm into a 4-1 lead.
But Gauff was to show her resilience battling back to 4-4 only for Sabalenka to again take charge but could not seal the deal as she failed to take two set points at 5-4 and 6-5.
A stunning two-handed backhand from Gauff took it to a tiebreak in which Sabalenka ran out a 7-5 winner after a riveting 77-minute long opener on her third set point.
The second was more straightforward with Gauff this time roaring to a 4-1 lead, twice breaking her increasingly frustrated opponent, before completing the job and taking the final to a decider.
The momentum appeared with Gauff who took charge early on but missed out on going 4-1 up with Sabalenka rescuing two break points and going to level at 3-3.
But then, with spots of rain starting to appear in the Paris air, Gauff again went ahead breaking Sabalenka to love with the next two games going to serve.
Serving for the match, Gauff was denied on the first championship point when Sabalenka found the line with an inch-perfect shot but won on the second when her opponent fired wide.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
UAE squad
Esha Oza (captain), Al Maseera Jahangir, Emily Thomas, Heena Hotchandani, Indhuja Nandakumar, Katie Thompson, Lavanya Keny, Mehak Thakur, Michelle Botha, Rinitha Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Siya Gokhale, Sashikala Silva, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish (wicketkeeper) Udeni Kuruppuarachchige, Vaishnave Mahesh.
UAE tour of Zimbabwe
All matches in Bulawayo
Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI
Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI
Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI
Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI
Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I
Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)
