LONDON: Tunisian player Anis Ghorbel was banned from tennis for three years on Friday for corruption.
Ghorbel, ranked as high as 479 in 2016, was found guilty of four breaches of the anti-corruption program by the International Tennis Integrity Agency in relation to match-fixing in 2016 and 2017.
He denied all charges at a hearing last month but was found liable for failing to report corrupt approaches, facilitating wagering on the outcome of a match and contriving the outcome or aspect of a match.
Ghorbel was also fined $20,000. His ban ends on Jan. 3, 2027.
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Tunisian tennis player banned for 3 years for match-fixing
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Tunisian tennis player banned for 3 years for match-fixing
- Ghorbel was found guilty of four breaches of the anti-corruption program by the International Tennis Integrity Agency
Rafael Nadal gets a farewell ceremony at a tournament he won a record 14 times
- There were plenty of active players on the program for Day 1 of the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament
PARIS: Rafael Nadal’s first French Open match in the tournament’s main stadium came on May 25, 2005 — a straight-set victory in the second round against Xavier Malisse. That made Nadal’s career record in the tournament 2-0, and he was just getting started on the way to what would end up as a 112-4 mark and 14 championships at Paris.
On Sunday, 20 years to the day after that win, Nadal was scheduled to be back at Court Philippe-Chatrier, only instead of competing, he was going to be feted by the French tennis federation for all that he accomplished on the red clay.
“Celebrating the King,” was the way the event was described on social media by the official Roland-Garros feed. There was no exact time for the start of the ceremony, only word that it would begin after the three day-session matches in Chatrier would finish — so perhaps somewhere around 5 or 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m or noon ET).
There were plenty of active players on the program for Day 1 of the year’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament, of course, from No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka to two-time major runnerup Jasmine Paolini, from US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton to Paris Olympics medalists Zheng Qinwen and Lorenzo Musetti.
None, though, was likely to draw as much attention and adulation as the 38-year-old former player with 22 total Grand Slam titles and known to all as “Rafa,” who played his final competitive match in the Davis Cup in November. Some folks did not think the tribute to him after a loss in his last appearance there lived up to what it should have been, and event director Feliciano Lopez had to defend it.
Other tournaments put off holding celebrations for Nadal this season, including Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome.
It just seemed fitting to all that the next big show should come at the site of so many of those lefty uppercut forehands, so many sprints to reach seemingly unreachable shots by opponents, so many triumphs.
This is the way Nadal described the fans in Paris: “They give me the love and the support every single second I have been on court.”
They were expected to pack the house on Sunday and it sounded as if some players planned to take in the scene, too, although at least one, four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, was going to need to make sure it wouldn’t interrupt her preparation for competition.
“I need to be aware that, for sure, I’m going to cry,” Swiatek said. “I would love to be there, because we should all kind of get together and celebrate Rafa and what he did for our sport and what kind of inspiration he was and still is.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas — twice a Slam finalist, including at the 2021 French Open — joked that Nadal won the trophy 29 times in Paris.
“It will be tough,” Tsitsipas said, “to see him go away.”
Raducanu overcomes fear of needles to manage back injury ahead of French Open
- The 22-year-old suffered a back spasm at the Strasbourg Grand Prix earlier this week
- She had faced a similar problem before this year’s Australian Open
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has overcome her phobia of needles in a bid to relieve a back injury ahead of her first round match against China’s Wang Xinyu at the French Open on Monday.
The 22-year-old suffered a back spasm at the Strasbourg Grand Prix earlier this week, and had faced a similar problem before this year’s Australian Open. Raducanu said dry needling and heat therapy have helped relieve it.
The Briton reached the second round in her last Roland Garros appearance three years ago, before undergoing wrist and ankle surgeries in 2023. She has steadily climbed back into the world’s top 50 after slipping out of the top 300 last year.
“It feels OK, it feels good, not 100 percent yet, but we’re working toward that. I still have a couple of days,” Raducanu told BBC Sport. “I would say the one before Australia was worse. I feel like this one I kind of caught before it fully locked up.
“At the start of the year I was so scared of needles. It was my biggest phobia... Since then, I’ve been kind of dipping my toes into it because I know it helps even though I’m really scared of them. That’s how I’ve kind of been trying to manage it.”
During the claycourt season, Raducanu reached the last 16 of the Italian Open, where she lost to eventual runner-up Coco Gauff. She fell in the second round of the Madrid Open to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
Djokovic becomes third man to win 100 ATP titles with Geneva victory
- The 38-year-old recovered from losing the first set to clinch a 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/2) win
- “I had to work for it, that’s for sure,” said Djokovic, who is the first man to win titles in 20 consecutive years
GENEVA: Novak Djokovic became just the third man to win 100 ATP titles with a typically dramatic comeback victory over Hubert Hurkacz in the final of the Geneva Open on Saturday.
The 38-year-old, playing in Switzerland in a bid to find form ahead of the French Open, recovered from losing the first set to clinch a 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/2) win after three hours and five minutes on court.
Djokovic joins Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer as the only players with a century of tour titles.
“I had to work for it, that’s for sure. He was probably closer to the victory the entire match than me,” said Djokovic, who is the first man to win titles in 20 consecutive years.
“I was just trying to hang in there... this is what happens at this level. A few points decide it, an incredible match... and I’m delighted to clinch the 100 here.”
It was the former world number one’s first tournament triumph since clinching his maiden Olympic gold medal against Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Games last summer.
Djokovic had lost both of his previous matches on clay this season prior to the Geneva tournament, against Alejandro Tabilo and Matteo Arnaldi at the Monte Carlo and Madrid Masters respectively.
But he decided to play at the low-key clay-court event in a bid to find form ahead of the start of the year’s second Grand Slam event on Sunday at Roland Garros, where the Serb will be targeting a record-breaking 25th major singles trophy.
It was Djokovic’s first tournament since splitting from coach and old rival Andy Murray, but he showed no ill-effects.
Poland’s former world number six Hurkacz, now ranked 31st, is still waiting for his first title since April 2024.
“It’s really inspiring how you conduct yourself on and off the court,” Hurkacz said to Djokovic.
The three-time Roland Garros champion starts his French Open campaign against American Mackenzie McDonald on either Monday or Tuesday.
After a tight start, Djokovic saw two break points come and go in the fifth game as Hurkacz battled to keep the first set on serve.
The opener appeared to be meandering toward a tie-break until Djokovic cracked in game 12, following a loose forehand at deuce with a double-fault on set point to give Hurkacz a one-set advantage.
Hurkacz dug deep to secure a hard-fought hold to kick off the second set, staving off another break point.
The second set followed a similar pattern to the first, but this time Djokovic was able to hold at 6-5 down to force a tie-break with an ace.
The Serb found his groove in the breaker, reeling off four straight points to send the match into a deciding set.
But Djokovic immediately gave up his serve in the first game of the third set, serving a double-fault when 40-30 up and then blasting a backhand long on break point.
Hurkacz then reeled off three successive holds to love to edge toward the title, only to crumble in the eighth game of the decider with two unforced errors and a double-fault to gift Djokovic a way back into the final.
The Pole gathered himself to secure a deciding tie-break in a tense 12th game.
But he crumbled at the crucial moments with back-to-back errors from 3-2 behind in the breaker, leaving Djokovic to reach yet another milestone in his illustrious career with an ace.
French taxi drivers threaten airports, French Open tennis in standoff
- French taxi drivers have over the last week blocked roads at points across the country
- “From Monday,” in the absence of progress, Paris international airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, “will be blocked by taxis, and we will also take care of Roland Garros,” said Cordier
PARIS: French taxi drivers will next week step up protest actions, including paralysing access to Paris airports and the French Open tennis championship, in an increasingly acrimonious standoff with the government, their main federation said on Saturday.
French taxi drivers have over the last week blocked roads at points across the country in a row with the government about payments for transporting patients which for many cab drivers form a major part of their businesses.
Meanwhile grievances against ride-hailing services such as Uber and Bolt have been aired again, with taxi drivers seeing them as a poorly-regulated threat to their livelihood.
Sector representatives are due to attend a crunch meeting at the ministry of transport from 1500 GMT Saturday which, in a sign of the seriousness of the situation, will also be attended by Prime Minister Francois Bayrou.
Their chief demand is the wholesale withdrawal of new rules coming into force in October on the transportation of patients to harmonize prices nationwide, which the taxi drivers say will severely erode their income.
“We are calling for the immediate withdrawal of this agreement and for a return to the negotiating table,” Emmanuelle Cordier, president of the National Taxi Federation (FNDT), told France Info radio.
“From Monday,” in the absence of progress, Paris international airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, “will be blocked by taxis, and we will also take care of Roland Garros,” said Cordier, referring to the two-week French Open tennis which starts on Sunday.
In such actions, taxi drivers usually park their vehicles to block car access, requiring people to walk long distances.
But the government has no plans to drop the new rules which it said are needed, after health transport expenditure reached 6.74 billion euros in 2024, including 3.07 billion for licensed taxis.
“We will have to continue to show our discontent peacefully, but with increasingly tough blockades,” said Noel, a 60-year-old driver from Lyon, who has spent 21 years as a taxi driver.
Birthday boy Djokovic avenges Arnaldi loss in Geneva
GENEVA: Novak Djokovic overcame soggy conditions on his 38th birthday to beat Matteo Arnaldi on Thursday and reach the Geneva Open semifinals in a tune-up event for Roland Garros.
The former world number one retrieved a break in the second set to claim a 6-4, 6-4 win over the 39th-ranked Italian who dumped him out at the first hurdle in Madrid last month.
Djokovic is hunting the 100th title of his career on the eve of the French Open having not won a tournament since capturing Olympic gold in Paris last August.
“It’s great to be in the semifinals again. Last year I played the semifinals. Hopefully this year I can go at least a step further. That’s the goal,” said Djokovic.
Djokovic, who received a wild card to play in Geneva after skipping Rome, will meet British qualifier Cameron Norrie for a place in Saturday’s final.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion had not won a match on clay this season after also losing his Monte Carlo opener at the start of April to Alejandro Tabilo.
A single break early in the first set enabled Djokovic to take control, but the sixth-ranked Serbian had to rally from 4-1 down in the second.
He drew audible gasps from the crowd when he grabbed his right knee after stretching for a shot in the fifth game.
But Djokovic, who had surgery last year to repair a torn meniscus suffered at the French Open, quickly rebounded and let out a mighty roar as he broke to go 5-4 ahead before putting away Arnaldi.
He said an angry outburst after dropping serve helped him reset as he won the final five games.
“I think I’m playing really, really good tennis,” said Djokovic, who was presented on court with a chocolate cake topped with sparklers after his victory.
“Today it was a lot of tension on the court. A straight-sets win but it was much closer than maybe the score indicates.
“I was 4-1 down in the second. Somehow after that racquet breaking I didn’t lose a game and kind of found my optimal state and balance, mentally and emotionally.”
Norrie ousted Australian fifth seed Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in the day’s last quarter-final.
Hubert Hurkacz put out top seed Taylor 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) earlier and will play Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner in the other semifinal.
The 128th-ranked Ofner came from behind to beat fourth seed Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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