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ROME — Sara Fantini notched another gold for Italy to ruin Anita Wlodarczyk’s bid for a fifth European hammer throw title in Rome on Monday, while world record holder Kevin Mayer was half way to locking up a Paris Olympic berth on the opening day of the decathlon.

Wlodarczyk is a giant in field events: The 38-year-old Pole is a three-time Olympic champion, a four-time world gold medallist and since first striking European gold in Helsinki in 2012, had won three more continental crowns.

Her one blip was missing the 2022 Euros in Munich after being injured when she apprehended a thief trying to steal her car.

Wlodarczyk only won silver at the Stadio Olimpico after a humdinger of a competition.

Backed by raucous home support, Fantini eventually came away victorious, her best of 74.18m ensuring an upgrade from her silver in Munich as she won Italy’s eighth gold in Rome.

Wlodarczyk’s 72.92m just edged France’s Rose Loga (72.68) on the podium.

“Sometimes, before the attempt, my coach shouts at me: ‘Come on granny!’” joked Wlodarczyk.

“And a granny can maybe win an Olympic medal, too. We still have two months to prepare for Paris and I still have some reserve in my technique so it is nice to see that this was still not my maximum.”

Fantini said she “still can’t believe I duelled and beat Anita Wlodarczyk”.

“She roused me with her fourth attempt: she is a reference for me, and receiving her compliments was really emotional.”

France’s Mayer may be a two-time world champion and have two Olympic silver medals, but it looks like his wait to win a European outdoor championship might continue after the first day of the decathlon.

The Frenchman sat eighth after the opening five disciplines on 4,230 points, Norway’s Sander Skotheim led the field on 4,566.

A tough second day on Tuesday, comprising the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m, awaits the decathletes, with Mayer seeking to do the necessary to ensure qualification for next month’s Paris Olympics.

Double Swiss gold 

Switzerland enjoyed double gold on a balmy night. Angelica Moser won her first senior outdoor medal in the women’s pole vault. The unheralded Timothe Mumenthaler took the men’s 200m.

In the pole vault, world bronze medallist and reigning European champion Wilma Murto of Finland bailed out at 4.43m. Just seven vaulters cleared 4.58m.

That was reduced to three as the bar was raised by 10cm: Moser, Britain’s world indoor champion and European leader Molly Caudery and Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece, seeking a historic third continental title.

The Swiss gambled by skipping the next mark at 4.73m, but was left punching the air when she cleared 4.78 at the first attempt. That proved too high for Stefanidi and Caudery, the Greek taking silver on countback.

The cowbells were soon ringing again after Mumenthaler, in the outside lane, timed 20.28sec to win the 200m ahead of home favourite Filippo Tortu, in 20.41. Another Swiss, William Reais, took bronze.

Belgium’s Alexander Doom, who claimed the world indoor 400m title in Glasgow in March, set a championship record of 44.15sec to win the one-lap race.

Doom fought back to hold off Britain’s Charles Dobson in the final metres, the Briton taking silver in a personal best of 44.38sec, with Liemarvin Bonevacia of The Netherlands claiming bronze (44.88).

Poland’s multimedal winning relay specialist Natalia Kaczmarek transmuted her individual silver from Munich two years ago to gold in a thrilling shoot-out with Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke.

Adeleke and Sharlene Mawdsley had been the female components of their country’s gold-medal winning 4x400m mixed relay team on Friday — Ireland’s first Euro gold since Sonia O’Sullivan’s 5,000-10,000m double in Budapest in 1998.

As Mawdsley faded, Adeleke and Kaczmarek found themselves in a straight tussle for gold, the Pole eventually running out the winner in a world leading 48.98sec. Adeleke timed 49.07 for silver, with Dutch athlete Lieke Klaver taking bronze (50.08).

Alexis Miellet led a French 1-2 in the men’s 3000m steeplechase, winning in a personal best of 8:14.01, 0.35sec ahead of teammate Djilali Bedrani. Germany’s Karl Bebendorf will return home with bronze.

AMMAN — Jordan’s national team plays Saudi Arabia in an away game in Riyadh on Tuesday in the final Group G qualifier for the 2026 World Cup aiming to come home with a win that will consolidate their performance, lineup and confidence ahead of the next stage in the journey.

Jordan hope to reverse its 2-0 Leg 1 defeat to Saudi Arabia  although it has already booked a spot in stage 3 of World Cup qualifying as well as the next edition of the 2027 Asian Cup after they beat Tajikistan 3-0 at Amman International Stadium on Thursday with HRH Crown Prince Hussein, Jordan Football Association Chairman Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and many members of the Royal Family cheering on the team.

Striker Yazan Nu’eimat was the man of the match scoring a goal and assisting in two as the squad secured moving to the next stage with observers now believing Jordan can make it the World Cup for the first time with FIFA expanding the format to include 16 more teams in the upcoming 2026 edition.  

In qualifiers so far, 71st ranked Jordan beat 195th ranked Pakistan 7-0 and 3-0, held 99th ranked Tajikistan 1-1 while 53rd ranked Saudi Arabia beat Tajikistan 1-0 and tied 1-1.

Eight Arab teams who have qualified to the next stage are Iraq, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan.

Jordan’s Moroccan coach Hussein Amouta has shifted the squad’s mental edge and the team’s competitive style and strategy on the pitch with players becoming household names following their memorable performance at the 2023 Asian Cup where they reached the final match before  settling for runner-up.

PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz fought back to defeat Alexander Zverev in a five-set French Open final on Sunday and become the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces.

The 21-year-old battled cramps to recover from 2-1 down in sets and win a gripping contest 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 after four hours and 19 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“I was running when I finished school to put the TV on just to watch this tournament and now I’m lifting the trophy in front of all of you, so thank you very much for everything,” an emotional Alcaraz said to his family watching on.

Alcaraz adds the Roland Garros crown to the Wimbledon title he won against Novak Djokovic last year and the 2022 US Open.

He will head to the Australian Open next year with the chance to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam.

Fourth seed Zverev, who settled a court case in Germany two days ago over domestic abuse allegations, is still waiting for a maiden major title.

He had also lost his only previous Slam final in five sets, when he blew a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.

Zverev had high hopes of finally getting over the line — he has also lost six Slam semifinals — but Alcaraz was too strong in the key moments as he levelled their head-to-head record at 5-5.

“It’s been amazing. The atmosphere, the support has been amazing,” said the 27-year-old.

Alcaraz said before the final he wanted to join the list of men’s players from his country, including his idol Rafael Nadal, to win the Roland Garros title, and he celebrated becoming the eighth Spanish champion by falling to the clay with his head in his hands in disbelief.

“Congratulations Carlos for this immense victory! Wonderful! Very happy for your successes! Vamos,” tweeted Nadal.

Zverev endured a miserable start, double-faulting on the first two points of the match en route to being broken in the opening game.

But Alcaraz was not immune to the nerves of a maiden French Open final, framing a regulation forehand into the stands and then also double-faulting as he gifted the break straight back.

The Spaniard did not take too long to find his groove, though, breaking to love in the fifth game on his way to pocketing the opener.

The youngster had to save three break points to hold in a 10-minute first game of the second set, but slipped 3-2 behind when he failed to stave off two more break points as another forehand sailed into the crowd.

Suddenly Zverev had a spring in his step and Alcaraz was reduced to scrambling at the back of the court, falling a double-break down with a double-fault.

Zverev wrapped up an ultimately one-sided second set with a hold to love.

The German made it three successive love holds with two more early in the third set, before Alcaraz celebrated coming out of a tricky service game unscathed with a fist pump as he edged 3-2 ahead, despite having been largely on the back foot.

Serving into an increasingly strong breeze, Zverev was caught out by an Alcaraz return that crept over the net and the Spaniard went on to grab a break to love.

But he could not serve out the set as a rasping Zverev passing shot secured a break back.

That failure to take control of the match seemed to temporarily break Alcaraz’s spirit, as he ended up losing five games on the spin to concede the set.

Alcaraz would not go down without a fight, though, breaking for a 2-0 advantage in the fourth with a magnificent curling winner on the run.

Just seconds before, Zverev had been angrily disputing a line call which was clearly correct, drawing jeers from the crowd.

The German was rattled and his serve started to desert him, with Alcaraz racing through the fourth set to force a decider despite having to take a medical time-out to have treatment for apparent cramp at 4-1.

Zverev had won 10 of his previous 11 five-setters at Roland Garros but handed Alcaraz a break on a platter in the third game of the fifth.

Alcaraz stuttered himself, falling 0-40 down in the next game.

He appeared to have double-faulted on the second break point, but the chair umpire overruled the line judge’s call of out, despite Zverev’s angry protests, before Hawkeye replays showed it was out.

Alcaraz went on to hold and it proved to be a pivotal moment in the match.

Zverev fell a double-break down in game seven as Alcaraz delighted the fans with an outrageous flicked winner before crushing a forehand onto the line.

He wrapped up a historic victory with a booming forehand that Zverev could not get back.

PARIS — Poland’s Iga Swiatek extended her French Open reign on Saturday as she thrashed Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 in the final to win her third successive Roland Garros title.

World No.1 Swiatek dominated Italian 12th seed Paolini, a first-time Grand Slam finalist, needing just 68 minutes to capture a fourth crown in five years in Paris.

Swiatek has now won all five Grand Slam finals she has contested. Her other victory came at the 2022 US Open.

She is the fourth woman in the Open era to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen four times — after Justine Henin, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.

Swiatek becomes only the third to win the tournament three years running. Henin, in 2005-07, was the last to do so. Monica Seles also achieved the feat as a teenager at the start of the 1990s.

At 23, her four Roland Garros titles is the same number Rafael Nadal, the record 14-time champion, had at the same age.

For the 28-year-old Paolini it was a sorry conclusion to an otherwise brilliant fortnight in the French capital.

The World No. 15 had won a total of four matches in 16 Grand Slam appearances before advancing to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.

While she fell short of emulating compatriot Francesca Schiavone, who won the 2010 French Open, Paolini could yet finish on a winning note with her and doubles partner Sara Errani through to Sunday’s final.

Paolini’s transformation this season into a player capable of challenging for the biggest prizes stemmed in part from quashing the mindset she needed “a miracle” to beat the best in the sport.

Yet, the odds were heavily stacked against her going into the final, with Swiatek unbeaten at Roland Garros since a 2021 quarter-final loss to Maria Sakkari.

Riding a 20-match winning streak in Paris, and a winner of 18 straight matches this year after titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek quickly set about her business.

She powered an ace to hold in the opening game and had Paolini backpedalling down break point, but the Italian ground out a gutsy hold and then broke Swiatek when the Pole flayed a forehand long.

That triggered a searing riposte from Swiatek, who broke to love to get back on serve and then surged 4-2 in front after Paolini coughed up a costly double-fault.

Swiatek had her opponent constantly scurrying around the court and the errors began to stack up for Paolini, who conceded the first set with a weak groundstroke into the net.

With Swiatek firmly in the ascendancy, Paolini looked lost for answers as the top seed oozed confidence and repeatedly took control of the rallies.

Had it not been for an astonishing recovery against Naomi Osaka in the second round when she saved a match point, Swiatek would have suffered her earliest Grand Slam exit at the French Open.

Instead that fright served to ignite her title aspirations, reigning Wimbledon and US Open champions — Marketa Vondrousova and Coco Gauff — powerless to stop the Swiatek offensive.

Swiatek had difficulty putting away Karolina Muchova last year when heavily fancied, but there was no such trouble 12 months on as the Pole dismantled Paolini to underline her burgeoning status as the “Queen of clay”.

The three games won by Paolini was the fewest in the final here since Henin obliterated Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2 in 2007, which also coincided with the Belgian’s fourth Roland Garros title in five years.

AMMAN — All eyes are on Jordan’s national team when they host Tajikistan Thursday evening in a vital match determining qualifiers from Group G for the next stage in the 2026 World Cup journey.

HRH Crown Prince Hussein and HRH Prince Hashem Bin Abdullah, dropped in to the team’s practice ground earlier in the week, underscoring official and fan support to the squad, who have captured hearts and minds following their memorable performance at the 2023 Asian Cup where they reached the final match and settled for runner-up.

Jordan beat 195th ranked Pakistan 7-0 and 3-0 to climb to second in the group ahead of the return leg matches against Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia later on June 11. In earlier qualifiers, Jordan held Tajikistan 1-1 and lost 2-0 to Saudi Arabia who beat Tajikistan 1-0 and tied 1-1 the return.

Following the Asian Cup, expectations have shifted after wins against former Asian champs Iraq and South Korea before eventually losing 3-1 to hosts and reigning champs Qatar, shot the team up 17 spots in FIFA rankings.

Now at 71st, Jordan has regrouped the squad, with most stars playing abroad ready to face 99th ranked Tajikistan, while 53rd ranked Saudi play Pakistan in an away game. The squad has to contend with injuries and possible lineup changes with star striker Mousa Ta’mari recovering from an injury sustained in the French League matches, in addition to goalie Nour Bani Atiya.

Jordan’s Moroccan coach Hussein Amouta who has been become a household name has finally confirmed he would be staying with team after much speculation that he would leave after the next two matches, citing “personal reasons”.

BERLIN — Euro 2024, beginning in Germany on June 14, is a mouth-watering prospect, as France and England lead the heavyweight contenders for a tournament which will be played out in some of the continent’s finest stadiums across a football-mad nation.

The setting for the month-long competition is important, given the underwhelming nature of the last Euros three years ago, held all over the continent rather than in one country, and played before limited crowds during the COVID pandemic.

This time all fans will descend on 10 stadiums in Germany, many with memories of the unforgettable summer of 2006 when the country last staged a major tournament.

The hope is this competition will be just as memorable, and for the right reasons, despite security concerns in a tense global climate and complaints about Germany’s creaking rail network.

That 2006 World Cup was won by Italy, who come into this European Championship as title holders, but it also saw Germany emerge again as a force to be reckoned with after years in the doldrums.

Back then there were question marks about the host nation’s chances, yet they reached the semi-finals.

There are similar doubts this time surrounding Julian Nagelsmann’s team, given Germany have exited the last two World Cups in the group stage and lost in the last 16 at the last Euros.

Host hopes

However, it would be foolish to talk down the three-time European champions too much given the players at their disposal.

“I have the feeling that we can win the tournament. And most of the time, my intuition is not too bad,” said Nagelsmann, whose team play Scotland in the opening game in Munich.

There are good reasons why France and England are widely seen as the favourites to raise aloft the Henri Delaunay trophy at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on July 14.

France are Europe’s top-ranked nation and have been in the last two World Cup finals. Their team has evolved since Qatar in 2022 but the quality at their disposal, beyond Kylian Mbappe, is fearsome and they are eager to win a first European Championship since 2000.

“Like other nations we have the potential to maybe go all the way, but we must not already be thinking about the semi-finals or a possible final,” warned coach Didier Deschamps.

It is not always the case that everything goes to form. But if it does, and France and England top their groups, they will be on a collision course to meet in the semi-finals at Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.

England carry the burden of never having won the Euros. Beaten on penalties by Italy in the 2021 final, Gareth Southgate’s team lost a nail-biting quarter-final to France at the last World Cup.

The two men who could give them the edge are Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

Kane will be at home in his surroundings having just scored 44 goals in his first season for Bayern Munich.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic sealed a 15th consecutive French Open quarter-final with a thrilling comeback victory over Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round on Monday, while Daniil Medvedev became the highest seed to crash out at Roland Garros so far.

In the women’s draw, both Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina comfortably powered into the last eight.

A limping Djokovic looked to be heading for a shock defeat when 2-1 down in sets and 4-2 behind in the fourth set, but battled back from the brink to delight the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd by winning 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 after four hours and 39 minutes.

“Three or four times I was points away from losing this match,” the reigning champion said to the spectators. “I’m not sure how I won this match.”

Djokovic narrowly avoided his earliest exit from the tournament since 2009, teeing up either a rematch of last year’s final against Casper Ruud or a clash with Taylor Fritz.

The 24-time Grand Slam title winner had reached the last 16 by defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in another bruising five-set encounter which concluded at 3:07 am Sunday.

He appeared to be feeling no ill-effects as he dominated the first set, but then needed a medical time-out early in the second after pulling up with an apparent knee injury.

The 37-year-old, eyeing a record 370th Grand Slam match win to break out of a tie with Roger Federer, played on but continued to walk gingerly between points.

Cerundolo grabbed the second set by finally taking a break point after 12 previous misses.

The 23rd seed moved ahead by two sets to one against an increasingly frustrated top seed, who was complaining the court was too slippery, before edging to the cusp of a famous win by forging 4-2 in front in the fourth.

But, seemingly from nowhere, Djokovic dug deep to break and level at 4-4.

He forced a decider on his fourth set point of a dramatic 12th game when a stretching Cerundolo could only find the net.

There appeared to be only one outcome on the cards when the Serbian star took a 2-0 advantage in the fifth, but his opponent rallied to level.

Djokovic was left covered in clay after a nasty tumble, sarcastically saying: “Well done supervisors, ground staff, everyone, the court is not slippery at all.”

But he was not to be denied, grabbing the decisive break with a blistering forehand that clipped the back of the baseline.

A dramatic triumph and yet another quarter-final was secured on his first match point when a Cerundolo backhand was given out by the chair umpire after initially being ruled in.

De Minaur beats Medvedev

Fifth seed Medvedev suffered a four-set loss to Australia’s Alex de Minaur, starting strongly before slipping to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 defeat.

De Minaur will face either Alexander Zverev or Holger Rune, who meet in the night session, in his second Slam quarter-final and first since the 2020 US Open.

Medvedev’s best performance in the French Open remains a quarter-final run in 2021, while he has also lost in the first round in five of his eight appearances.

“Alex played better,” admitted Medvedev, a former US Open champion and six-time Grand Slam finalist.

De Minaur had never got past the second round at the tournament before this year, winning just three of 10 matches.

In the women’s tournament, World No.2 Sabalenka, who was a semifinalist in 2023 and has made at least the last four at her past six Grand Slams, proved far too strong for American 22nd seed Emma Navarro.

The Belarusian raced into the quarters, hammering 36 winners during a 6-2, 6-3 success in only 69 minutes.

“I’m super happy that I was able to bring this consistency on the Grand Slams,” said the two-time Australian Open champion. “That’s really amazing.”

Sabalenka, who lost to Iga Swiatek in the Madrid and Rome Open finals this clay-court season, will play 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.

Andreeva became the youngest French Open women’s quarter-finalist since 2005 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Russian-born French player Varvara Gracheva.

“When they were screaming ‘Varvara, Varvara, Varvara’, I imagined they were screaming my name and it really helped,” Andreeva said.

Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, the fourth seed and the only woman to defeat world number one Swiatek on clay this year, saw off experienced Ukrainian 15th seed Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-3, also in just 69 minutes.

She will next face Italian Jasmine Paolini after the 12th seed fought back to defeat Russian Elina Avanesyan 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.

PARIS — Novak Djokovic believes “things could have been handled differently” after winning his French Open third round match at 3:07am (01:07GMT) Sunday as US star Coco Gauff warned that players’ health was being put at risk.

Defending champion and 24-time Grand Slam title winner Djokovic came from two sets to one down to defeat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in a clash which only started just before 10:45pm (20:45GMT) on Saturday.

It was easily the latest finish to a French Open tie and came after organisers squeezed in extra matches onto the two main show courts, which both have retractable roofs, to counter the scheduling chaos caused by a seventh day of rain in Paris.

“I don’t want to get into this debate,” said Djokovic initially before adding: “I think certain things could have been handled differently.

“There is a certain beauty in winning the match at three in the morning if it was the last of the tournament, but this isn’t the case.”

Djokovic’s four-hour 29-minute victory allowed the 37-year-old World No.1 to equal Roger Federer’s record of 369 Grand Slam match wins.

“Physically, I really went to my limits to win this match. When you play rallies of more than 20 shots, at two in the morning... Who plays at two in the morning?” he added.

“We play few matches in our life at this time. The conditions were very heavy, it was very cold. You didn’t have many free points behind your serve.”

Djokovic must now recover to face Argentinian 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo in the round of 16 on Monday after avoiding what would have been his earliest exit at the French Open in 15 years.

“I definitely think it’s not healthy,” said women’s World No.3 and US Open champion Gauff.

‘Not fair’ 

“It may be not fair for those who have to play late because it does ruin your schedule.

“I definitely think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest to try to avoid those matches starting after a certain time.”

Gauff explained that a 3:00am finish didn’t mean the end of a player’s commitment for the day as a match is usually followed by physical recuperation and media duties.

“So that’s probably not going to bed until 5:00 at the earliest, maybe 6:00 and even 7:00,” said the American.

Women’s World No.1 Iga Swiatek said night sessions need to start earlier for the sake of the public as well as players.

“I don’t know if the fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day or something when the matches are finishing at 2:00 or 3:00am,” said the defending champion.

“It’s not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us.”

In stark contrast to Djokovic’s marathon efforts, Swiatek reached the quarter-finals on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Anastasia Potapova in just 40 minutes on the same Court Philippe Chatrier.

Despite his reluctance to play late into the night, Djokovic’s stamina and tenacity were widely praised.

“Djokovic is like LeBron James at 39, he fights until the end, he gives everything and he loves it, it’s incredible to see,” John McEnroe told NBC.

“I’m not kidding, this guy looked better physically than he did at the start of the match.”

The Australian Open in Melbourne holds the Grand Slam record for the latest finish — in 2008, Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis played a match until 4:34am.

At the US Open in New York, the record is 2:50am in 2022 when Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner.

Wimbledon operates a strict 11pm curfew with the 2012 clash between Andy Murray and Baghdatis ending at a gentler 11:02pm.