Event of the Day: French Open Day 13

Our event of the day is Day 13 of the 2018 French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. Friday’s programme brings the semi-finals in the men’s singles of the season’s second Grand Slam tournament of the year. First, Marco Cecchinato and Dominic Thiem will square off on the court Philippe-Chatrier and after their match defending champion Rafael Nadal and Juan Martín del Potro will play the second match of the day. The Italian sensation, Cecchinato, is having a dream tournament. Although the 25-year-old had never gone past the first round in a Grand Slam before, he has made a major breakthrough in Paris, eliminating Pablo Carreño Busta, David Goffin and 2016 champion Novak Djokovic en route to the semi-finals. 

Austrian Thiem has reached his third successive French Open semi-final after losing just three sets in the process and beating number two seed Alexander Zverev three sets to love, in the quarter-finals. The 24-year-old is a favourite against Cecchinato and will be looking to make his first Grand Slam final. Yesterday, world number one and ten-time champion Nadal and 2009 US Open champion del Potro, finished their matches interrupted by rain on Wednesday, against Diego Schwartzman and Marin Čilić, respectively. They both won three sets to one – the Spaniard turned the match around when the game resumed to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; while Delpo prevailed in a tight match, winning 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. The ‘King of Clay’ has nine wins from 14 encounters with the Argentine, the last being in the 2017 semi-final of the US Open. Two outstanding tennis matches await at Roland Garros.

Honourable mentions around the globe go to Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Cavs will fight to stay in the series having fallen to a 3-0 deficit, while the Warriors have an opportunity to defend their title with a clean sweep over Cleveland. In the AFL, Port Adelaide host Richmond at the Adelaide Oval in North Adelaide. It’s Day 2 at both, the European Tour’s Shot Clock Masters at the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg and the PGA Tour’s FedEx St Jude Classic at the TPC Southwind in Memphis. In the MLB, there’s a New York City derby between the Mets and the Yankees at Citi Field. A number of Friendly Football Internationals will be played, including Poland taking on Chile at the INEA Stadion in Poznań. In sailing, the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race will see the in-port race in the Port of Cardiff. It’s the third day of the 1st Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain; whilst Ireland Women and New Zealand Women play their 1st ODI at the YMCA cricket Club in Dublin.

Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!        

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Photos by Roland Garros

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