10th - 11th June
The 23rd Grand Slam
Serbia's Novak Djokovic has today secured the French Open, his 23rd Grand Slam of his career. No male player in the history of the sport has won more Grand Slams than Djokovic. It is also his third time of winning the special clay-court title in Paris. Norway's Casper Ruud fought valiantly, but was eventually defeated 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-5. On his way to the title, Djokovic also beat Spain's Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final. Alcaraz was World No.1 at the time, but the victory today means the Grand Slam champion moves to the top rankings. On Saturday Poland's Iga Swiatek became the first woman to defend her title since Belgium's Justine Henin in 2007. Swiatek defeated the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova 6-2 5-7 6-4 to win her third French Open title in four years, and also her fourth Grand Slam.
A number of important cycling competitions completed today. We are inching closer to the Tour de France, the premier UCI WorldTour multi-stage road race. The big road race completing today in France was the Critérium du Dauphiné, a UCI WorldTour event. It was Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard taking the top podium position. On Saturday Norway's Rasmus Tiller won the Dwars door het Hageland in Belgium, a UCI ProSeries race. The second UCI ProSeries race of the week completed on Sunday in the Netherlands, with local star Olav Kooij claiming the ZLM Tour win. Two rounds of the UEC BMX European Cup completed over the weekend in Sakarya, Turkey. On Saturday and Sunday the elite winners were Colombia's Mariana Pajon Londoño and Diego Alejandro Arboleda Ospina. Switzerland's Nicole Göldi and France's Theo Charmes won the UCI E-MTB Cross-Country World Cup today in Bologna Montana, Italy. Laissac-Aveyron in France hosted the UEC MTB European Continental Championships - XCM, with Germany's Adelheid Morath and Belgium's Wout Alleman claiming victory. To round up the cycling news, the full results of the UCI MTB World Cup (XCO, XCC,DHI) held in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, can be viewed here:
https://www.uci.org/competition-details/2023/MTB/68909
In squash news, Malaysia's Eain Yow Ng and Hong Kong's Sin Yuk Chan have been crowned winners of the 2023 Asian Individual Championship. USA’s Grayson Murphy and Uganda’s Leonard Chemutai claimed the spoils in the mountain classics, the final race of the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck-Stubai, Austria. Over to professional boxing where Teofima Lopez has become the new WBO light-welterweight champion after his defeat of Josh Taylor in New York City.
It was India's second consecutive final appearance, but Australia landed the spoils at the ICC World Test Championship Final at The Oval in London. The champions won by 209 runs. New Caledonia's Sarah Hauser and France's Baptiste Cloarec are the women's and men's winners of the Professional Windsurfing Association 2023 Fiji Pro World Cup. India defeated Korea 2-1 to win the Women's Junior Asia Cup held in Kakamigahara, Japan. We stay with Japan as the nation topped the table of the 2023 Karate 1-Premier League in Fukuoka. Home hero and Grand Winner Hikaru Ono was among the standout performers. North Macedonia's capital city Skopje was again the venue for a major dance sport competition. The International Dance Organization hosted the European Hip Hop Battle & Breaking Championships. Follow the link for the full results:
https://www.ido-dance.com/ceis/ido/results/calendar/2023_1948.html
The Netherland's Maikel van der Vleuten retains the lead of the Longines Global Champions Tour after round 5 that was held in Cannes, France. USA’s Natalia Grossman claimed the ninth International Federation Sport of Climbing World Cup Boulder gold medal of her career in Brixen, Italy. Great Britain's Toby Roberts won a pulsating men's final. Switzerland's Loanne Duvoisin and France's Felix Forissier are the champions of the XTERRA European Championship full-distance off-road triathlon at the Citadel in Namur, Belgium. Astana in Kazakhstan gathered the best of Asia and Oceania at the regions Sambo Championships. View the full results here:
https://live.sambo.sport/calendar/62/(competition:results)
Croatia's Osijek was the location for the FIG World Challenge Cup in artistic gymnastics. Australia's Georgia Godwin and Bulgaria's Eddie Penev secured the Women's and Men's Floor titles. Godwin claimed her second title in the Women's Vault, with Armenia's Artur Davtyan winning the Men's gold. Fellow Armenian Gagik Khachikyan was victorious in the Pommel Horse, while the Netherland's Naomi Visser won the Uneven Bars. Ukraine's Illia Kovtun took gold in the Parallel Bars. Godwin then capped an incredible weekend with her third gold in the Balance Beam. The Horizontal Bar champion is Brazil's Caio Souza, with the Still Rings title going to Armenia's Artur Avetisyan.
The Singapore Open was the next round of the Badminton World Federation World Tour. Korea's Se Young An and Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting are the Women's and Men's Singles Champions. China's Qing Chen Chen and Yi Fan Jia, and Japan's Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi took victory in the Women's and Men's Doubles. Finally, the Mixed Doubles title went to Denmark's Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje.
Two major International Canoe Federation competitions also completed over the weekend. The first result is from the Wildwater Canoeing Sprint World Championships hosted at Augsburg, Germany.
https://www.canoeicf.com/wildwater-canoeing-world-championships/augsburg-2023/results
The Czech Republic's Prague was the location of the Canoe Slalom World Cup.
https://www.canoeicf.com/canoe-slalom-world-cup/prague-2023/results
Poland's Bartosz Zmarzlik took maximum points in Teterow, Germany, in round 4 of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix, extending his lead in the overall standings. Lakewood in Colorado hosted round 3 of the Pro Motocross Championship. It was Australian dominance once again as Jett and Hunter Lawrence won the 450 and 250 Class. The FIM TrialGP World Championship moved to San Marino for round 4 of the season. Defending champion Toni Boe took the top podium position. Italy's Francesco Bagnaia won the Gran Premio d'Italia, round 6 of the FIM MotoGP World Championship. Koen Hermans and Ben Van Den Bogaart continued where they left off to win round 6 of the FIM Sidecarcross World Championship in Lange, Estonia. To round of all the motorcycling news, Spain's Jorge Prado claimed the overall position at the MXGP of Germany in Teutschenthal, round 9 of the FIM Motocross World Championship.
The most famous of endurance races took place over the weekend. The 24 Hour Le Mans is the fourth round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The overall and hypercar title went to Ferrari and the driving team of Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi. The LM P2 champions are team Interpol Europol Competition, with the LM GTE AM podium going to Corvette Racing.
Part 2 will follow as more results come in from the Americas. Until next time, have a great week in sport.