Andy Roddick today became the biggest male casualty of this year's French Open after suffering a crushing third-round defeat to Teimuraz Gabashvili.
Sixth seed Roddick's game was dismantled by the world No 114 Gabashvili, who completed an embarrassingly straightforward 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win in just one hour 56 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen Court.
Roddick, who reached his third Wimbledon final last year after achieving a career-best run to round four at Roland Garros, saw his normally imperious serve broken four times by the Georgia-born Russian.
The 27-year-old's defeat will go down as one of the big shocks of this year's tournament, although the American did struggle to reach the third round after missing the entire clay-court season this year.
Russia's Gabashvili will go on to play either Jurgen Melzer or David Ferrer.
When the 25-year-old secured the crucial break in the seventh game of the opening set, Roddick threw his racket towards his entourage in frustration.
The American refused to use the court as an excuse, despite having lost five straight matches on the notoriously slow Suzanne Lenglen. "It's a fun court as far as people viewing, and I have no issue with it," he said.
"It's just the way that it plays doesn't really help me out much. That's all. That's fine.
"There are courts like that everywhere. You have to deal with it and you have to play through it."
Roddick did, however, take issue with the court covers, the management of which saw him involved in several tense exchanges with the umpire.
He said: "They dry the whole court, but then they leave the tarps soaking wet.
"If a ball rolls through a puddle enough times, can you tell me what happens to it? Then when clay attaches to it, it doesn't get lighter.
"It's something that I've been pretty adamant about complaining about behind closed doors for a long time, you know.
"The umpire said too me, 'Well, it happens every year'. I'm going, 'Is that supposed to make me feel better?' I didn't understand that logic."
Mikhail Youzhny needed just five games to complete a 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-3 over Viktor Troicki, which resumed after being postponed last night.
The 11th seed will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round four tomorrow.
* PA
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
About Okadoc
Date started: Okadoc, 2018
Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Healthcare
Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth
Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February
Investors: Undisclosed
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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