SPAIN-- Max Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday to stretch his Formula One lead to 53 points and continue Red Bull's sweep of the season with the team's seventh success in as many races. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton was second for Mercedes, but 24.09 seconds behind, with team mate George Russell completing the podium on a cloudy but dry afternoon at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya. Red Bull's Sergio Perez, Verstappen's closest rival in a season that looks sure to crown the dominant Dutch 25-year-old for a third time, finished fourth after fighting back from 11th at the start. The victory was Verstappen's fifth of the season, third in a row, third in Spain and the double world champion's 40th in Formula One. The man who took the first grand prix win of his career at the Spanish circuit in 2016 and also triumphed last year, secured the bonus point for fastest lap to cap a day of domination.
"It's a big pleasure to drive with a car like this. I think it showed again today," said Verstappen, who fended off Ferrari's home hero Carlos Sainz at the start in the only challenge of an otherwise straightforward afternoon. "I had the harder compound so I knew the start would be a bit tricky. Going around the outside at Turn One is always quite difficult but luckily nothing happened." Verstappen was also shown a black and white flag for exceeding track limits late in the race but the risk of a five second penalty was hardly going to trouble someone so far up the road from the rest. "Well done Max, that was mega. Very well controlled, even though you went over the white lines a few times," said team boss Christian Horner.
McLaren's Lando Norris, who started third on the grid, suffered a broken front wing on the first lap after contact with Hamilton and had to pit, plunging down the order and finishing 17th. Talking Point The form of the Mercedes drivers, with a re-designed car after a disappointing start to the season, provided a main talking point. Mercedes moved up to second in the championship on 152 points to runaway Red Bull's 287 and with Aston Martin dropping to third on 134. "Mega job guys, mega job," said Hamilton over the radio. "Thank you so much to everyone back at the factory, continuing to push. This is a real showing for all your hard work. Let's keep pushing." Russell went off into the gravel on his way to the grid, where he lined up 12th, but his car was undamaged and his pace strong. "It definitely feels better," he said of the car. "You are just putting in those lap times and comparing it to the guys around you -- the Ferraris and Astons -- and you are going quicker and quicker." Sainz was fifth, and said it was the best he could do, with the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso sixth and seventh. Alonso was 10th after his final stop but made a charge back up the order before settling in behind Stroll and assuring the Canadian he was no threat. "I damaged one floor yesterday already, I didn't want to damage another one today," said the Spaniard, who had finished five of the previous six races on the podium. "I didn't want that he damaged a floor either, by defending. For us it was the same, sixth and seventh, same points so bringing it home seemed the right choice.".
Alpine's Esteban Ocon was eighth, Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou ninth and Pierre Gasly, who qualified fourth before a six-place grid penalty, took the final point for Renault-owned Alpine. AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda collected a five second penalty for forcing Zhou off the track, dropping him from ninth out of the points. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who started from the pitlane after a nightmare in qualifying left him on the back row, finished 11th.
PARIS-- Fourth seed Casper Ruud and holder Iga Swiatek stayed on course to reach consecutive finals at the French Open while a couple of unheralded names in the women's draw continued to show their immense potential on a sunny Thursday at Roland Garros.
FRANCE- - Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild said it was the happiest day of his life after beating world number two Daniil Medvedev at the French Open on Tuesday. The 23-year-old, making his debut at Roland Garros, won a gruelling contest 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-4, sending the Russian second seed home in the first round of the Grand Slam. "It's definitely the happiest day of my life. But the tournament is not over, and I have worked very hard to be here, and I would like to stay as long as possible," he told a press conference.
"From the first day I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I knew how to play. I've seen him (Medvedev) play thousands of times. I just had to believe in myself and believe in the work I've been doing." Wild, who had not played a tour-level tournament nor a Grand Slam main draw since 2020, concentrated on the clay-court circuits earlier this year, claiming championships in Chile and Argentina. "The French Open is a very special tournament for me. I think with so many times I've played here I could get the experience I need to qualify this year and get past the first round, but I think it's momentum. You have to make that momentum last as long as possible," he added.
The Brazilian, who qualified in Paris by beating Germany's Dominik Koepfer in the final round, said his inspiration came from record 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal. "He's a guy I've admired all my life. The way he plays, the spirit he puts on the court and the way he wants to win, you don't see that every day, you don't see that in anybody. He's Rafael Nadal," Wild said.
BUDAPEST-- Europa League thoroughbreds Sevilla worked their magic yet again to beat AS Roma 4-1 on penalties on Wednesday and lift the trophy for a record-extending seventh time, handing Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in six European finals.
PARIS - Novak Djokovic launched his quest for a record 23rd men's Grand Slam singles title with a 6-3 6-2 7-6(1) victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic in the French Open first round before risking controversy by writing a political message on a camera. World number one Carlos Alcaraz also came through with flying colours as the Spaniard crushed Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 6-0 6-2 7-5 in his first Grand Slam match since winning the U.S. Open title last year. Twice Roland Garros champion Djokovic breezed through the first two sets before encountering resistance from the 24-year-old American. He ended the contest with a sizzling service return on his first match point and will take on Hungarian journeyman Marton Fucsovics for a place in the third round. "It's always a pleasure to come back here, one of the best tournaments in the world," said Djokovic, who made his Roland Garros debut in 2005. "I'm very motivated to go far here, all the way I hope." However, he risked courting controversy by writing "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence" on a camera lens in Serbian as he departed. Around 25 NATO peacekeeping soldiers defending three town halls in northern Kosovo were injured in clashes with Serb protesters on Monday, while Serbia's president put the army on the highest level of combat alert. Roland Garros organisers said there were no official Grand Slam rules on what players can or cannot say. Jannik Sinner closed out the night session with a dominant win as the eighth seed downed Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-1 6-4 6-1 to book a clash with Daniel Altmaier. Dominic Thiem took his main draw spot after the withdrawal of 14-times champion Rafa Nadal - his conqueror in the 2018 and 2019 finals but the injury-plagued Austrian fell to Argentine Pedro Cachin who won 6-3 6-2 6-7(1) 4-6 6-2. Italian veteran Fabio Fognini showed he was still a force to be reckoned with as he dismissed ailing 10th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4 6-3, making the Canadian the first top-10 player in the men's draw to crash out. Wawrinka Through Stan Wawrinka also made his way into the second round after the 2015 champion beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(5) 6-4 6-7(2) 1-6 6-4 in an epic battle lasting more than four hours. Zhang Zhizhen later became the first Chinese man in the Open Era to win a main draw match at the French Open as Dusan Lajovic retired while down 6-1 4-1. Two former runners-up made quite an impression in the women's draw. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova celebrated her return to Roland Garros with a dominant win over Czech Linda Fruhvirtova after fearing for her career a year ago due to a knee problem. The 31-year-old enjoyed her best run at a Grand Slam in the 2021 tournament when she reached he final, and skipped last year's edition as well as the second half of the season to nurse an injury. Sloane Stephens, runner-up in 2018, dismantled former world number one Karolina Pliskova 6-0 6-4. Although everything went smoothly on court for the American, she said racist abuse of players had got worse. "Yes, it's obviously been a problem my entire career," said Stephens, who is Black. "It has never stopped. If anything, it's only gotten worse." Former world number three Elina Svitolina celebrated a winning return to Grand Slam tennis with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Italy's Martina Trevisan following her one-year maternity break and the Ukrainian quickly waded into a debate over the war in her country. She said since her return to the tennis tour in April the focus had not been on the suffering of Ukrainians following Russia's invasion last year. "What I found is... a lot rubbish is happening around the situation where we have to focus on what the main point of what is going on," Svitolina said when asked what she had been hearing on the tour since her comeback. Caroline Garcia, who is carrying French hopes for a first Roland Garros singles champion since Mary Pierce in 2000, fought her way into the second round by downing China's Wang Xiyu 7-6(4) 4-6 6-4. It was the end of the road for Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, however, as the Swiss player lost 6-3 2-6 6-4 against lucky loser Elina Avanesyan. Double Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova, the 10th seed, fell to a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto while 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko battled back from 1-5 down in the second set to beat Tereza Martincova 6-3 7-5.
