This first weekend of September was particularly busy with sports news. Between the probable last appearance of Serena Williams on a tennis court at the resumption of the Top 14, passing by the Eurobasket or the Ligue 1 where PSG and Marseille prance in the lead, you had to have your eyes everywhere to not miss anything . Lucky for you, France info: sports offers you a sports weekend catch-up session.
Serena Williams’ latest?
She had announced in August that “the countdown was on“, implying that she would retire at the US Open 2022. Serena Williams had delayed the deadline by passing the first two rounds, but left the New York tournament on the night of Friday to Saturday. American with 23 Grand Slam titles was beaten by the Australian Alja Tomljanovic after a match lasting more than three hours (7-5, 6-7 [4]6-1).
The one who will celebrate her 41st birthday at the end of September burst into tears during her interview on the court. Everything about her attitude and her way of accepting tributes gives the impression that she was bowing out, but a doubt remains. At a press conference, she was asked if she intended to reconsider her decision to end her career soon, to which she cryptically replied: “I don’t think so, but you never know (…). I’ve always loved Australia, she slipped, smirking. I still don’t know if it was my last moment or not. It’s clear that I’m still able [de jouer]. But there are plenty of other things…I’m ready to be a mother, to explore another version of Serena and I want to enjoy life while I can still walk.”
“I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus.”@serenawilliams@Venuseswilliams pic.twitter.com/C7RZXcf23E
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2022
Ciryl Gane at the rendezvous at UFC Paris
It was the sporting event of the weekend in the Paris region. The AccorArena hosted the first major MMA event in France, two years after the discipline was legalized. UFC Paris offered several fights to the 16,000 spectators who made the trip. That of French Ciryl Gane, world No. 1 heavyweight, was the most anticipated.
Jostled in the second round, the latter overwhelmed the Australian Tai Tuivasa by knocking him out in the third round to seek an important victory. A victory that can give him an opportunity to challenge Francis Ngannou again, the current holder of the category world champion belt.
CIRYL SUCCEEDED AT HOME @ciryl_gane wins in front of more than 16,000 French people in the @Accord_Arena #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/KIaBZy3aad
— UFC France (@UFCFRA) September 3, 2022
La Rochelle offers itself the first shock of the Top 14 season
Rugby resumed on Saturday. What better poster to start the Top 14 season than a clash between the European champion, La Rochelle, and the French champion, Montpellier? It was the Maritimes, winners of the last Champions Cup, who emerged victorious at home against the holders of the Shield of Brennus (26-22). Everything changed on a penalty try in the 78th minute when MHR were in the lead.
In the other meetings of this first day, Lou won at Brive (31-27) and Toulon won ahead of Bayonne (40-25). Racing 92 struggled but beat Castres at home (25-19). The other club in the capital, Stade Français, overthrew Clermont (24-18). Finally Pau won by a narrow margin at home against Perpignan (16-14).
France bounce back at Eurobasket
After a failed entry, against Germany on Thursday (76-63), the Blues raised their heads against Lithuania on Saturday (77-73). Facing the teammates of Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas, Vincent Collet’s players made a much better copy. Author of 27 points, Evan Fournier left behind his recent performances to assume his role as leader, all the more important with the absences of Nicolas Batum and Nando de Colo.
The France team wins its fight against Lithuania (77-73) and gets back into the competition.
See you tomorrow for France – Hungary on CANAL+ Sport 360
@EuroBasket @FRABasketball@CanalplusSport pic.twitter.com/cEj44AGy89
– CANAL + Basket (@CanalplusBasket) September 3, 2022
“I hope we are off to a good start in this competition.”, reacted the back of the New York Knicks at the microphone of Canal +. They proved it the next day by chaining a second success against Hungary (78-74). Inconstant, the France team was scared to the end, before Evan Fournier validated the victory with free throws nine seconds from the gong. Rudy Gobert took the opportunity to regain confidence in attack (15 points and 9 rebounds). Next deadline Tuesday (2:30 p.m.), against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Verstappen untouchable at home
Faced with the orange tide that invaded the Zandvoort circuit on Sunday, the local stage did not disappoint. Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix – to the delight of the 105,000 spectators won over to his cause – ahead of George Russell (Mercedes) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). Thanks to his fourth consecutive victory, the Red Bull driver increases his lead in the world championship, where he now has 109 points over his runner-up, Charles Leclerc.
Starting in pole position, Mad Max only left the outposts during the pit stops. Apart from that, he was never really worried, even when the safety car gave a semblance of suspense fifteen laps from the finish. Placed in the exhausts of Lewis Hamilton when the race restarted, Max Verstappen immediately overtook the Briton to regain the lead and head for his thirtieth career success.
The king of Zandvoort #DutchGP @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/CGYn4fU2Jl
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 4, 2022
PSG and Marseille continue their momentum
Three goals, here is the new price of PSG. After the five goals scored during the first two days of Ligue 1 and then the card in Lille (7-1), PSG have just won a second consecutive victory with a score of 3-0. Just like Toulouse, Wednesday, this time it was Nantes who paid the price, Saturday evening, weighed down by a red card and a double from Kylian Mbappé.
With 16 points, PSG are leaders in Ligue 1, tied on points with Olympique de Marseille. OM won at Auxerre (2-0) and remain undefeated in the league. This is also the case of Lyon, wide winner of Angers (5-0), and Lens, hooked in Reims (1-1). At the bottom of the table, Strasbourg, Ajaccio and Angers are still looking for their first victory of the season.
Remco Evenepoel threatened by Primoz Roglic
Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) showed his first signs of weakness in the Tour of Spain. And rather twice than once. While he was 2’41” ahead of his runner-up Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) in the general classification on Friday, the red jersey saw his gap melt during the weekend.
Saturday, during the 14th stage, the Belgian first conceded 48 seconds to the Slovenian who also pocketed four bonus seconds at the top of the Sierra de La Pandera. Rebelote Sunday at Sierra Nevada, where the rider of the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl let slip another fifteen seconds. With six stages still to go, Remco Evenepoel will have to keep his thirty-four minute lead to prevent Primoz Roglic from winning a fourth consecutive Vuelta.
Classification over the stage | GC after stage #LaVuelta22
Top 10
+ info https://t.co/PXynSf4KTx pic.twitter.com/H9eRbcdVNr
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 4, 2022