10/06/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | JUNE 10, 2025 29 Prince of Clay Destiny child Alcaraz battles back from the brink to retain French Open crown C A R L O S A L C A R A Z battled from the brink of a first Grand Slam final loss to outlast Jannik turned professional in 1968 to win all of his first five Grand Slam singles finals after Swiss great Roger Federer but Alcaraz was more enthralled with an achievement he shared with fellow Spaniard and 22-times major champion Nadal. “The coincidence of

Fox beats Burns to win PGA Canadian Open NEW ZEALAND’S Ryan Fox birdied the fourth playoff hole to defeat American Sam Burns yesterday and win the US PGA Tour’s Canadian Open for his second triumph in five weeks. The 38-year-old Kiwi hit a 3-wood from the fairway to eight feet and two-putted for victory when Burns lipped out an 11-foot birdie putt on their fifth playing of the par five 18th, counting their regulation birdies in Sunday’s final round. “Probably the greatest shot I’ve ever hit considering the circumstances,” Fox said of his second shot on the last extra hole. “To be honest, Sam and I had a bit of a pillow fight there for three holes. It was some average golf from both of us, some average putting. “But that shot I hit on 18, that 3-wood, was probably the best shot I’ve ever hit. Would have been nice to make it but hey I’ll take it.” Fox became the first New Zealand golfer to win two PGA Tour titles in one year after taking his first at last month’s Myrtle Beach Classic. Burns and Fox each finished 72 holes on 18-under par 262 at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley. “It was tough,” Fox said. “I hit some great shots down the stretch in regulation. Probably got a little lucky on that putt on 18 in regulation. That snuck in the left door.” The drama went to the fourth playoff hole when Fox blasted his second shot on the green to eight feet. “I had 230 meters, 255 yards, and into the wind it was a cut 3-wood. In the air, I thought I hit it stone dead or in the water. Judged by the crowd it was a really good shot.” Burns was 28 feet from the hole with his second, missed the eagle putt then lipped out on an 11-foot birdie putt while Fox missed but then tapped in for the victory. The victory gets Fox into next week’s US Open. – AFP “It was like a rollercoaster, up and down, up and down. That thinking made me a little bit nervous, that’s why my tee shot at hole 14 goes way right,” she said. – AFP Kupcho ends LPGA title drought JENNIFER KUPCHO rolled in a birdie putt at the final hole for a one-shot victory over Lee Il-hee at the Shoprite Classic, capturing her first LPGA title since 2022. “It feels amazing,” said Kupcho, a stellar amateur whose three LPGA titles in 2022 included a major at the Chevron Championship. “I think I struggled a lot early in the year and had a lot of tough weeks, a lot of hard conversations, and it feels good,” added the American, who birdied three of the last five holes to seal the win with a 5-under-par 66. “I had a couple of bad bounces on the first hole and third hole,” Lee said. “I was just thinking, it’s just golf. I was just trying the same things, same chipping, same putts … trying to move my lower body a little bit because I was kind of a little bit shaky because I think it was first time for me to start as a leader, so I was kind of nervous. “I got through (that) pretty quick and I finished great,” Lee added. South Korean Kim Sei-young carded a 6-under 65 that included a hole-in-one eagle at the 17th and a birdie at 18 and gave her sole possession of third place on 12-under 201.

Sinner in a French Open title clash for the ages on Sunday and keep his crown, cementing his status as the Prince of Clay in Roland Garros’ post-Rafa Nadal era. In a scintillating showdown between the torch-bearers of a new generation, the 22-year old saved three match points in the fourth set to win 4-6, 6 7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) and continue his dominance over Sinner with his fifth straight victory and end the Italian’s 20-match winning run at the majors. “CARLOS II, PRINCE OF CLAY,” the French Open posted on X . Alcaraz showed his steely determination to win the epic in five hours and 29 minutes – the longest final at Roland Garros – and soaked up the roaring ovation from a thoroughly entertained Parisian crowd long used to 14-times champion Nadal’s reign. “I’m just really happy to be able to make history with you in this tournament,” Alcaraz told Sinner after collecting the Musketeers’ Cup. “I’m sure you’re going to be champion not once, but many times. It’s a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making history with you.” Victory made him only the second man since tennis

winning my fifth Grand Slam at the same age as Nadal, that’s destiny,” Alcaraz told reporters. “It’s a stat I’m going to keep forever … It’s a huge honour. Hopefully it’s not going to stop like this.” Alcaraz and Sinner, who have lifted seven out of the last eight Grand Slams to stamp their authority in the men’s game, were locked in a fierce battle full of dramatic momentum shifts in the first major final between two men born in the 2000s. Sunday’s five-hour-plus fiesta was the second-longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era and marked only the third time since 1968 that a player saved a match point en route to victory in a Grand Slam final. Alcaraz matched Argentine Gaston Gaudio’s 2004 French Open feat and Serbian Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon comeback in 2019. “He was born to play these kind of moments,” said Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. “Every time we were in these situations, even when he was younger in the challengers … he always went for it.” – Reuters

Carlos Alcaraz poses with the trophy after winning the men’s singles final match of the French Open. –AFPPIC

This one hurts, says Sinner after loss

JANNIK SINNER said he would try to “delete” the memory of his five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Roland Garros final on Sunday, after the world No. 1 passed up three championship points as the Spaniard roared back to claim victory. Sinner had looked set to pocket his first French Open title with Alcaraz serving at 0-40 when 3-5 down in the fourth set, but the reigning champion pulled off a battling hold before forcing a decider via a tie-break. “Obviously this one hurts. Yeah, there’s not so much to talk about right now,“ Sinner told reporters after his defeat in the longest final in Roland Garros history. “It was a very, very high-level match, was long. Yeah, and it happens. You know, we saw it in the past with other players, and today it happened to me. “So we try to delete it

championship match at a major. In Paris, he found himself on the other side of the net as he was the one to fail to convert a 2-0 lead. “I tried to delete everything, every set. In Grand Slams you try to start from zero again,” explained Sinner of his mindset ahead of the deciding set. “You know, I was of course disappointed about the fourth set and match points and serving for the match. But again, I stayed there mentally. I didn’t give him any free points. “When it was over, it was over. That’s different feeling, different things coming through your mind. So, yeah, you cannot change anymore when the match is over. But when you start a fifth set, you can still change some things.” Sinner will have to reset quickly and turn his

attentions to the next Grand Slam on the calender – Wimbledon, which gets underway at the end of June. – AFP

somehow and take the positive and keep going. There are no other ways.” It was the 23-year-old’s first defeat in a

Sinner