Matthew Ebden and John Peers were crowned Olympic champions in the men's doubles after their victory over the United States' Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. 

The Australian duo came from a set down to win on Court Philippe Chatrier in just over two hours, emerging 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-1) 10-8 victors at Roland-Garros. 

Krajicek and Ram would start well, winning a break point in the sixth game, only for their Australian opponents to respond instantly to level the encounter at 4-4. 

With both pairs holding their serve for the remainder, a tie-break would decide who would take the first set, with the Americans able to obtain the early advantage. 

Krajicek and Ram found another early break in the second, but again saw their lead vanish as Ebden and Peers rallied to win three consecutive games. 

The Australian's took the game to a second tie-break, producing some stunning tennis along the way as the encounter went the distance in the French capital. 

Ebden and Peers would carry their momentum into the decider, and despite missing four gold medal points, were able to hold on to secure the triumph. 

Data Debrief: Australia strike gold at Roland-Garros

Ebden and Peers showed grit and determination worthy of winning a gold medal, coming from a set down to scoop the top prize.

The Australian's impressed on serve, scoring nine aces compared to Krajicek and Ram's six, winning 73% of their first-serve points. 

Jamaica’s Sabrina Lyn, Bahamas’ Rhanishka Gibbs and St. Vincent & the Grenadines’ Kennice Aphenie Greene were all eliminated at the preliminary stage of the women’s 50m freestyle at the Paris Olympics on Saturday morning at the Paris La Defense Arena.

Greene, 17, was the first of the trio to compete, producing a time of 27.23 to finish third in heat number five.

The 20-year-old Lyn and 18-year-old Gibbs both lined up in the seventh heat and finished fifth and sixth with times of 26.08 and 26.27, respectively.

Lyn was the highest placed of the three in the overall standings after the heats in 29th while Gibbs and Greene came in at 31st and 42nd, respectively.

Only the top 16 swimmers advanced to the semifinals.

Thierry Henry admitted he did not agree with the scenes that followed France's 1-0 win over Argentina in the quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics. 

Jean-Philippe Mateta's fifth minute strike proved to be the difference in Bordeaux, but ugly scenes at Ilgiz Tantashev's full-time whistle overshadowed Les Bleus' triumph. 

Tensions between the two nations had been at boiling point after Argentina's Copa America winning squad were filmed singing a racist chant aimed towards the French. 

Argentina's Marco Di Cesare set the tone in a feisty encounter early on, picking up the first of 10 yellow cards shown in the match. 

After the Olympic hosts had confirmed their place in the semi-finals, celebrations spilled onto the pitch, which sparked a reaction from the Albiceleste players.

Enzo Millot, who had been substituted five minutes before full-time, received a red card for his actions, much to the frustration of his head coach. 

"I don’t agree with what happened at the end of the match. My player [Millot] got a red card and I don’t accept it, it shouldn’t happen," Henry said. 

"I couldn’t control what happened. I went to greet the coach and when I turned around, what happened, happened.

"We won, but I didn’t like what happened at the end with my player.

"We don't take this match as revenge because the World Cup was with other teams, Henry continued. "Having scored the goal quickly gave us a decision.

France will face Egypt in the last four of the competition, with the opportunity to win gold for the first time since Los Angeles 1984. 

Steve Kerr laid down the marker for his United States team ahead of their final group game at the Paris Olympics.

Team USA won their first two Group C encounters, overcoming Serbia and South Sudan.

They face already-eliminated Puerto Rico on Saturday, and though they are assured of progression to the last eight, there is still plenty on the line for the USA.

Kerr's team must win by more than four points to be sure of clinching the top seed for the knockout stage, which would mean they would be drawn against the lowest-ranked team in the quarter-finals.

"We want the No. 1 seed," Kerr said. 

"It gives you the best matchup in the quarter-finals. So if we drop down to two or three – which I think is unlikely, but we've got to take care of our business – we possibly have a much tougher opponent."

Points differential is the primary tie-breaker to settle the seeds in the knockout stage. Canada and Germany both stayed perfect through their group campaigns, with the latter occupying the top seed as it stands with a differential of +43.

"The point differential is a big thing, and so even the first two games we were focusing on not taking our foot off like you do in the NBA sometimes," guard Derrick White added.

"So it's a little different than what we're used to, but that's all part of the tournament."

While Jrue Holiday nurses an injury, Anthony Davis is expected to feature for Team USA, while Kevin Durant is embracing his role as a super-sub.

"It's basketball," said veteran Durant.

"It really doesn't matter who starts. It's about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they're in the game.

"So I just try to do my best to impact it any way I can."

Should the USA claim the top seed, they could go up against Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece, who beat Australia to finish ahead of Spain in Group C.

Greece have to wait on the result of Serbia v South Sudan in order to see if they will qualify.

Novak Djokovic was relieved to end his Olympic semi-final hoodoo and finally reach the singles final at the Games for the first time.

The 24-time major champion defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 to ensure he would walk away from Roland-Garros with a medal.

Djokovic will now face number two seed Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of last month's Wimbledon final.

The 37-year-old was aware of the enormity of the achievement in going one step further, having suffered semi-final losses to Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev in three previous Olympic semi-finals, though he did claim bronze at the Beijing Games in 2008.

"I have been waiting for this for almost 20 years," Djokovic said in his on-court interview.

"I've played four Olympic Games, this is my fifth and '’ve never passed the semi-finals. I lost three semi-finals in my first four Olympic Games.

"I managed to overcome this big hurdle. I must be honest and say that I was thinking about all the semi-finals that I lost."

The Serbian had to overcome injury concerns after his quarter-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Djokovic was more encouraged by his mental strength against an opponent that has made great strides on the ATP Tour this season in Musetti.

"I just tried to be in the present moment. I played against a player who is in great form and really came out firing from both ends," Djokovic added.

"I just tried to maintain the focus and do what I have to do."

Sunday's final between Djokovic and Alcaraz will be the seventh meeting between the pair, with the head-to-head currently at three apiece.

Leon Marchand capped off an "unbelievable" week in the pool as he claimed his fourth gold medal of the Paris Games.

Home hope Marchand has dominated at La Defense Arena, and won the 200-metre medley to complete a remarkable set of golds.

His win on Friday came on the back of success in the 400m medley, 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke.

The 22-year-old, who was cheered on by French president Emmanuel Macron, told BBC Sport: "It has been unbelievable for me this week.

"I am enjoying every moment of it and this crowd was crazy. I was enjoying everything, it was so cool."

Marchand, who was just 0.06 seconds shy of the world record, finished ahead of Duncan Scott of Great Britain.

"He showed his class there, that is very quick," Scott told BBC Sport.

"What he just went after what has been a busy schedule for the guy – it was special to race him.

"It is a great way to finish it [his individual events] off."

There were two medals for France, with Florent Manaudou clinching bronze.

France continued their 100% record at their home Olympics as they defeated Argentina 1-0 to advance to the semi-finals.

Crystal Palace's Jean-Phillipe Mateta headed in from a cross from his former club-mate Michael Olise five minutes in, and that ultimately proved enough for Thierry Henry's men to progress.

VAR disallowed France a second late on, but Argentina could not make their fortune count before tempers boiled over between the players at the final whistle.

Argentina came out on top in the 2022 World Cup final between these great footballing nations, and there were an equal amount of thrills and spills this time around.

Mateta's early goal set the tone for a dominant display from Les Bleus in the first half, with Enzo Millot going close before Geronimo Rulli denied France's goalscorer a second.

While Giuliano Simeone should have done better before the break, it was a similar story in the second half as Mateta again met an Olise corner, but this time his header went just over.

Olise seemed to have capped off a virtuous display with a goal of his own 10 minutes from time, but VAR disallowed the goal for a foul in the build-up.

Loic Bade struck the woodwork just after, and Claudio Echeverri - just on as a substitute - may have made France pay had he kept his composure with the goal gaping, only to slice over as Les Bleus held on to set up a semi-final against Egypt, who beat Paraguay 5-4 on penalties.

Data Debrief: France's Palace connection

Two players who starred at Selhurst Park last season were the main men in Bordeaux on Friday.

He was a constant threat, taking the most shots for France (three) and contributing 0.35 of their 0.97 expected goals (xG), while also having the joint-most touches inside the box (four, level with Olise).

Olise shone in a central role behind his former team-mate, creating three chances, the joint-most of any player in the match. 

Carlos Alcaraz is relishing what will be a "special moment" in his already remarkable career as he prepares for an Olympic gold medal match.

Alcaraz defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1 6-1 on Friday to take his place in the final of the men's singles, which will take place at Roland-Garros on Sunday.

And standing in the way of the Spaniard, who won the French Open earlier this year, and a gold medal is 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.

Like Alcaraz, the 37-year-old Djokovic is into his maiden final at the Games, having previously claimed bronze in 2008.

Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the final of Wimbledon in July, would be the youngest-ever champion of the men's singles should he triumph. He is the second-youngest male to have made it into a singles final at the Games, after Robert LeRoy in 1904.

"It's going to be a really special moment for me, in my life, in my career, so I'm going to try and enjoy this moment, because it’s going to be really difficult," Alcaraz said.

"It's going to be difficult, but it’s going to be special.

"I will try to be focused on myself and try not to hear all this, all the fans, all the people that say 'I'm going to win'.

"I just want to give 100% my best tennis and hopefully I reach my goal to get the gold."

Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, conceded he was simply second best.

He said: "I just couldn't find a way to be comfortable in any pattern, any position.

"Whether it was trying to dominate the forehand cross-court or change of direction, the forehand inside-out, the backhand side.

"Every aspect. The movement. The defence. I was dominated.

"He's improved a lot, every time we've played. I don't have the solutions right now."

Auger-Aliassime swiftly shrugged off his disappointment by winning the bronze medal match alongside Gabriela Dabrowski in the mixed doubles.

Their success against Dutch pair Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs marked Canada's first medal in the mixed doubles.

Andy Murray is immensely proud of what he achieved after his return from life-altering hip surgery in 2019.

Murray, a three-time major champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist, retired from tennis after his doubles campaign at the Paris Games came to an end on Thursday.

The 37-year-old and his partner Dan Evans lost to American duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in straight sets.

When reviewing his career after the hip surgery in 2019, Murray spoke of his pride in achieving victories against some of the brightest talent that the sport has to offer in the years that followed.

He also looked back fondly on the 46th and final title of his career, which came in Antwerp against great rival and fellow three-time slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka.

"Winning the trophy in Antwerp was great and although the results certainly weren't consistent I did have wins against quite a lot of players who are up at the top of the game – [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Jannik] Sinner, [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Hubert] Hurkacz," Murray told BBC Sport.

And Murray doubts whether a similar comeback will be seen again.

"To do that with a metal hip, I don't know if that will happen again or not," he added.

"I was the first to try to do it and although it didn't go perfectly I was able to have what many players would consider a pretty successful four or five years."

Though Murray acknowledges the challenges he faced playing with a resurfaced hip, he remains content with how he was able to compete well into his thirties. 

"It wasn’t the same as it was before but that's what I’m most proud of – I was able to come back and play at the highest level with a pretty significant physical limitation," he said.

Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell successfully made it through to the final of the men’s shot put on day two of Athletics competition at the Paris Olympics in the Stade de France on Friday.

Campbell, competing in the first qualifying group, produced only one legal throw measuring 21.05m which was good enough 10th overall in qualifying among the two groups.

The 28-year-old has a season’s best 22.16m done at the Madrid World Continental Indoor tour meet in February.

Campbell is also currently Jamaica’s national record holder with his 22.22m done in Madrid in 2023.

Italian Leonardo Fabri led all qualifiers to the final in Paris with 21.76 with Czechia's Tomas Stanek (21.61m), Americans Payton Otterdahl (21.52m), World record holder Ryan Crouser (21.49m) and New Zealand's Tom Walsh (21.48m) and Jacko Gill (21.35m) rounding out the top six.

Also joining Campbell in the final will be USA's Joe Kovacs (21.24m), Mexico's Uziel Munoz (21.22m), Nigeria's Cornnell Enekwechi (21.13m), Italy's Zane Weir (21.00m) and Norway's Marcus Thomsen (20.81m).

Novak Djokovic will face Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the men's singles at the Paris Olympics.

Djokovic, having seen Alcaraz dispatch Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets, made light work of Lorenzo Musetti in Friday's second semi-final to qualify for an Olympics singles showpiece match for the first time in his incredible career.

The Serbian won 6-4 6-2 at Roland-Garros, where he also defeated Rafael Nadal en route to reaching the final.

Now, Nadal's compatriot Alcaraz stands in between Djokovic and his first gold medal, who previously claimed bronze at the 2008 Games.

Djokovic will also have revenge on his mind, with Sunday's showdown coming just three weeks after the 37-year-old lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

The pair's head-to-head record stands at three wins apiece.

Data Debrief: Three of a kind

In reaching his maiden Olympic gold medal match, Djokovic became just the third player to reach the singles final after turning 30 since tennis returned to the Games in 1988.

It is quite the illustrious list, with Djokovic joining Serena Williams and his old foe Roger Federer, who both reached the respective men's and women's finals in London 12 years ago.

Should he triumph against Alcaraz, Djokovic will become just the fifth player to complete a career golden slam, which includes winning all four grand slams and a singles Olympic gold medal.

Only Stefanie Graf, Andre Agassi, Nadal and Williams have previously done so.

Spain saw off Japan 3-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics thanks to Fermin Lopez's superb double and a harsh VAR call.

Barcelona youngster Fermin, who played a bit-part role as Spain won Euro 2024, slammed in a sublime strike in each half of Friday's quarter-final in Lyon.

Having beat the despairing dive of Leo Kokubo with a long-range left-footed effort in the 11th minute, Fermin took centre stage again midway through the second half as he lashed in with an expertly controlled volley after taking the ball down on his chest.

Matters could have been vastly different had a first-half equaliser for Japan been allowed to stand, however.

Mao Hosoya brilliantly spun Pau Cubarsi to arrow home, only for the goal to be disallowed for the forward's right foot to have been millimetres offside as he tussled with the Spanish centre-back.

Hosoya was denied by Spain goalkeeper Arnau Tenas late on, but La Roja added gloss to an ultimately convincing win when captain Abel Ruiz poked in from close range after Japan failed to clear their lines from a set-piece.

Kota Takai struck the crossbar in one last fruitless attempt for Japan, and Spain will now ready themselves for a last-four tie with Morocco.

Data Debrief: Fabulous Fermin

Spain have one of the strongest squads at the tournament, and Fermin is possibly the standout.

He showed all his quality with his fantastic long-range finishes, which came from a combined expected goals (xG) of just 0.03.

Fermin had five shots in total, and hit the target with four of them, as he moved into joint-second place in the goalscoring charts with three, behind Morocco's Soufiane Rahimi.

The semifinals of the women’s 100m at the Paris Olympics will provide some of the most anticipated battles of the athletics programme.

With all the projected medal contenders successfully making it through the heats on Friday, the fields for Saturday’s semifinals have been set with a monumental clash set to take place in the second semifinal between three of the fastest women on earth.

The second semifinal will see Jamaica’s three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce lining up against American reigning World champion and current world leader Sha’Carri Richardson as well as St. Lucian reigning World Indoor 60m champion and 2023 Bowerman Award winner Julien Alfred.

Fraser-Pryce was the fastest of the three in Friday’s heats with her 10.92 to finish second behind Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith in the eighth and final heat.

Richardson ran 10.94 to win the first heat while Alfred won the second heat in 10.95.

The rest of the field for semifinal two includes Gina Bass-Bittaye, Rosemary Chukwuma, Bree Masters, Patrizia Van de Weken, Imani Lansiquot and Gladymar Torres.

Jamaica’s Shashalee Forbes will contest the first semifinal against the likes of Ta Lou-Smith, who was fastest in the heats with her 10.87, 2019 World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and World Indoor Championships 60m silver medallist Ewa Swoboda. Zaynab Dosso, Rani Rosius, Melissa Jeffferson, Mujinga Kambundji and Boglarka Takacs complete the field in that semifinal.

Jamaica’s Tia Clayton and Trinidad & Tobago’s Leah Bertrand will contest the third semifinal. That field is completed by Daryll Neita, Audrey Leduc, TeeTee Terry, Karolina Manasova, Zoe Hobbs, Gina Lueckenkemper and Delphine Nkansa.

The top two from each semifinal will advance to the final along with the next two fastest times.

The semifinals are set to start at 12:50pm Jamaica Time (1:50pm EST) with the final scheduled for 2:20pm (3:20pm EST).

 

 

Hideki Matsuyama maintained his lead from the opening round of the Olympic Games but now shares top spot with Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood at the halfway stage.

The three are all on 11 under after the first two rounds, with the Brit enjoying a brilliant day on the course as he jumped 11 places up the leaderboard.

He carded a seven-under 64 on Friday and only failed to take an outright lead after finding the sand and failing to get up and down.

Matsuyama similarly missed his chance, hitting the water on the final hole, but he did well to only make a double as he finished with a three-under 68.

Schauffele, who is playing to retain his gold medal, had set the pace by carding a 66, one more than yesterday.

Jon Rahm has also played his way into contention (nine under), while Belgium's Thomas Detry produced the best result of the day, with his round of eight-under 63 improving him to eight under and vaulting him up 36 places into joint fifth.

Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler is down in joint-10th (six under), with Rory McIlroy one stroke further down after carding a two-under 69.

His Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry finished on an even 71 for the second day running. 

Hideki Matsuyama maintained his lead from the opening round of the Olympic Games but now shares top spot with Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood at the halfway stage.

The three are all on 11 under after the first two rounds, with the Brit enjoying a brilliant day on the course as he jumped 11 places up the leaderboard.

He carded a seven-under 64 on Friday and only failed to take an outright lead after finding the sand and failing to get up and down.

Matsuyama similarly missed his chance, hitting the water on the final hole, but he did well to only make a double as he finished with a three-under 68.

Schauffele, who is playing to retain his gold medal, had set the pace by carding a 66, one more than yesterday.

Jon Rahm has also played his way into contention (nine under), while Belgium's Thomas Detry produced the best result of the day, with his round of eight-under 63 improving him to eight under and vaulting him up 36 places into joint fifth.

Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler is down in joint-10th (six under), with Rory McIlroy one stroke further down after carding a two-under 69.

His Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry finished on an even 71 for the second day running. 

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