PARIS: Jasmine Paolini will try to accomplish something no one has been able to do in quite some time: defeat Iga Swiatek at the French Open.
The top-seeded Swiatek carries a 20-match Roland Garros winning streak into Saturday’s final against 12th-seeded Paolini.
Play is scheduled to begin in Court Philippe Chatrier at 3 p.m. local time (1300 GMT, 9 a.m. EDT).
Swiatek, a 23-year-old from Poland, is bidding for her third consecutive title in Paris. It would also be her fourth championship in five years at the clay court major and fifth Grand Slam trophy overall.
She is 4-0 in Grand Slam finals so far. She won the US Open in 2022.
Italy’s Paolini will be participating in a major final for the first time at age 28. She had never been past the second round at one of the four most important tennis tournaments until the Australian Open in January.
She also reached the French Open women’s doubles final, which is scheduled for Sunday.
Paolini and Sara Errani will face 2023 US Open singles champion Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova for the doubles title.
Jasmine Paolini will try to stop Iga Swiatek in the French Open women’s final
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Jasmine Paolini will try to stop Iga Swiatek in the French Open women’s final
- Italy’s Paolini will be participating in a major final for the first time at age 28
- Play scheduled to begin in Court Philippe Chatrier at 3 p.m. local time
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
