标签： Europe

The 2025 French Open has delivered one of its most shocking early upsets, and a historic underdog story to match: world No. 1 Jannik Sinner crashed out in the second round, and 2024 semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti missed the tournament entirely due to injury. Yet against all expectations, Italian men’s tennis has not just survived this early blow—it has thrived, marking an unprecedented milestone by placing three players in the tournament’s quarterfinals for the first time in Grand Slam history.

The Italian contingent’s run already guarantees at least one Italian man in the French Open semifinals: Matteo Berrettini, the trailblazer of the country’s modern tennis boom, will face fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi in Wednesday’s primetime night clash. In the other quarterfinal from the same half of the draw, 24-year-old breakout star Flavio Cobolli will go up against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime for a spot in the final four. Beyond singles, Italian tennis is well represented across other draws too: coinciding with Italy’s National Day on Tuesday, Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori competed in the men’s doubles quarterfinals, while Sara Errani and Vavassori will battle for a spot in the mixed doubles title match on Wednesday.

For Cobolli, the run to the last eight is already a career-making breakthrough. Entering this tournament, the world No. 14 had never claimed a win on a Grand Slam center court, but he dismissed American youngster Learner Tien in straight sets in the third round to extend his run. That big-match poise, Cobolli says, comes from high-stakes experience earned last November, when he clinched the decisive match point to secure Italy’s third consecutive Davis Cup title on home soil in Bologna.

“The Davis Cup helped me handle the pressure in matches where there’s a lot on the line,” Cobolli explained.

That depth of Italian tennis talent has not gone unnoticed by observers, including former 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang, who now coaches Tien. “It just goes to show you that Italian tennis is tough,” Chang said. “To be able to win the Davis Cup even when Jannik’s not playing, the depth is very great there.” Chang, who has witnessed the grassroots growth of Italian tennis first-hand during the annual Italian Open in Rome, added that courts surrounding the iconic Foro Italico are packed with players of all ages, a clear sign of a sustained domestic tennis boom.

Few know the underdog journey of this current Italian cohort better than Cobolli himself. Before committing fully to tennis, the 24-year-old was a promising youth soccer player in AS Roma’s academy, counting current Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori, Watford’s Edoardo Bove, Atalanta’s Nicola Zalewski, and Lazio’s Matteo Cancellieri among his former teammates. He still keeps in close touch with the group, and even skipped a pre-tournament rest night to watch Roma’s final Serie A match of the season at a local Roma supporters’ club in Paris ahead of his opening Roland Garros clash. A product of Rome’s Tennis Club Parioli—the same club that produced 1976 French Open champion Adriano Panatta—Cobolli is in line for a career-high jump if he claims the title: a Paris trophy would lift him as high as world No. 5. Panatta, who is invited to present the men’s singles trophy this weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of his historic 1975 win, would be on hand to hand the trophy to one of his own club’s graduates if Cobolli reaches the finish line.

For Berrettini, this quarterfinal run comes after years of struggle and a period of deep reflection that reignited his love for the game. The first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Panatta when he made the 2021 Wimbledon final, Berrettini—nicknamed “The Hammer” for his blistering serve—has been plagued by a string of debilitating injuries over the past five years. After his 2021 run in Paris, he did not even compete at the French Open again until this year, and entered the 2025 tournament ranked just No. 105 in the world after a run of poor results.

A surprise loss in the second round of a lower-tier Challenger event in Valencia, Spain just before the French Open led Berrettini to take a step back and reevaluate his priorities. “I looked at people coming out of offices and parents bringing their kids home from school and I thought to myself, ‘There’s a world beyond tennis,’” Berrettini said. “Sometimes it takes some perspective. People like Sinner who win all the time are just very unique. The rest of us need some losses now and then to rediscover the necessary energy. If everything went well all the time then I would be No. 1.” That reset has paid off in Paris, sending the veteran into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal in years.

The third Italian quarterfinalist, Arnaldi, has delivered one of the most grueling runs in French Open history to reach this stage. Ranked No. 104 entering the tournament, the 24-year-old has already played 18 sets across four matches, winning back-to-back five-set thrillers to reach the last eight. His total on-court time to reach the quarterfinals stands at 17 hours and 42 minutes—shattering the previous French Open record of 15 hours 44 minutes set by Nicklas Kulti all the way back in 1992.

Like his compatriots, Arnaldi’s run comes after a period of struggle: he reached a career-high ranking of No. 30 in 2024 before a right foot injury derailed his form, and he lost eight of his first 10 matches at the start of this season. But a breakout run on clay in Cagliari’s Challenger event, where he won seven straight matches including four deciding-set victories, got his season back on track and rebuilt his confidence ahead of the clay court swing.

“In Cagliari I started to rediscover my confidence,” Arnaldi said, “and that’s what has made the difference.”

As Wednesday’s all-Italian quarterfinal clash approaches, the entire cohort is unified in what this milestone means for their country’s tennis program. “It’s just good for Italian tennis,” Berrettini said, a sentiment echoed by fans and observers alike across the sport.

LONDON — A years-long legal investigation into the tragic 2017 on-site training death of Paralympian Abdullah Hayayie has concluded with UK Athletics, the national governing body for British track and field, receiving a £350,000 ($471,000) fine following its guilty plea to a corporate manslaughter charge.

The fatal incident unfolded on July 11, 2017, at east London’s Newham Leisure Centre, where 36-year-old Hayayei was putting the final touches on his training ahead of competing for the United Arab Emirates in an upcoming international para athletics competition. During a training session, a section of a metal throwing practice cage collapsed, and a heavy metal pole struck Hayayei in the head, causing fatal injuries.

Announcing the sentence during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court on Tuesday, Judge Richard Marks emphasized that Hayayei’s death was a preventable tragedy. Calling the incident “tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable”, Marks noted that this fatal accident was an event that had long been a foreseeable risk.

Alongside the penalty for UK Athletics, 79-year-old Keith Davies — the former head of sport for the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships hosted in London — was sentenced to 175 hours of unpaid community work after pleading guilty to a breach of health and safety regulations. A retired physical education teacher, Davies either had direct knowledge of structural flaws with the training cage or should have discovered the hazards ahead of the incident, according to the judge. Marks added that an identical throwing cage at the same venue had collapsed previously, meaning the risks were already documented before Hayayei was killed.

“This was an accident which sooner or later was waiting to happen,” the judge told the court.

A veteran competitor who had already earned a spot among the world’s top para athletes, Hayayei had competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics just one year before his death, where he finished sixth in the men’s javelin event and seventh in the men’s shot put competition. The 200-kilogram (440-pound) cage that collapsed is a standard piece of throwing training infrastructure, constructed from metal poles and protective netting designed to contain stray throws from shot putters and other throwing event athletes and protect bystanders from injury.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – For thousands of displaced Afghan women soccer players, the dream of representing their homeland on the international pitch seemed dead after the Taliban’s 2021 return to power, which immediately banned all women’s sports across the country and forced the entire national women’s squad into hiding. Today, that impossible dream is one step closer to reality, after FIFA granted the exiled team official eligibility to compete in global competitions – a milestone years in the making for a group of athletes who have refused to let displacement and oppression erase their passion.

The journey began in 2021, when a urgent evacuation effort relocated 13 core members of the former Afghan national women’s team to Australia, where they spent the next five years rebuilding their lives, training relentlessly, and holding out hope that they would one day earn the right to wear their nation’s crest again. Today, the team’s roster has grown to 23 players through the Afghan Women United program, with members scattered across Australia, Europe, and the United States, all brought together for training camps and matches by head coach Pauline Hamill. This week, the full squad has gathered in Auckland, New Zealand for a intensive training camp ahead of an upcoming friendly match against a representative side from the Cook Islands.

For the players, FIFA’s April recognition marks the end of a years-long fight that began long before the 2021 Taliban takeover. Even when the former Afghan government was in power, female players faced steep cultural barriers, constant threats of violence, and widespread pushback from conservative segments of society. Goalkeeper Fatima Yousufi, who now lives and studies in Melbourne, escaped Afghanistan with nothing but a single backpack, fleeing the threat of violence against women who dared to play sports. She recalled the crushing disappointment when the team was initially denied official status after their evacuation.

“When we first arrived here, we had already lost everything: our families, our childhood homes, our connection to the country we loved,” Yousufi told reporters. “The only thing we had left was our identity as soccer players, as the Afghan national team. When we couldn’t play officially, it felt like we had lost the game before we even stepped onto the pitch. When we got the news from FIFA, it was the greatest thing that could have happened to us. We actually have a national team again.”

Midfielder Mona Amini, another core team member who also resettled in Australia, called FIFA’s decision a vindication of the years of hard work and sacrifice the squad put in after their displacement. She pointed to a 2023 friendly tournament where the team defeated Libya, marking the first time the squad had played an official international match since the Taliban takeover – and the first time in three years the team heard the Afghan national anthem played before a game.

“That moment was something I will never forget,” Amini said in a recent Zoom interview. “This recognition we have now is the result of four or five years of nonstop work, every single day. We never gave up.”

For the team, the fight goes far beyond the soccer pitch. Back in Afghanistan, women and girls remain banned from all secondary education, public recreation, and most organized sports, with the Taliban barring women from leaving the country without a male guardian and restricting nearly all aspects of public life. The exiled players see themselves as representatives and voices for the millions of women and girls still trapped under Taliban rule, working to prove that Afghan women deserve equal access to education, sport, and public life.

“We are here not just to play soccer,” Amini said. “We are here to be a voice for all the girls back home who cannot chase their dreams. We want to build a new generation of Afghan women soccer players, and show the whole world what we can do. The Taliban took our freedom, but they can never take our ambition or our right to do what we love.”

Yousufi added that the team hopes to change global perceptions of Afghan women, and push for greater rights for those still living in the country. “Our team might be the one to change the way people think, and change the situation for girls and women in Afghanistan,” she said. “We all work every day to show that women and girls belong in every part of society – in education, in sport, everywhere. We have the same rights as anyone else to follow our dreams.”

As France prepares for its World Cup campaign, one rising star stands out as the secret weapon manager Didier Deschamps can turn to when opposing defenses lock down Les Bleus’ star-studded attacking line: 22-year-old playmaker Rayan Cherki. Fresh off a sensational debut season with Manchester City in the Premier League, the dynamic young talent has already cemented his reputation as one of the most creative and unpredictable players in modern soccer.

In his first season in England’s top flight, Cherki dazzled crowds and coaches alike with his unorthodox skill, clinical vision, and pinpoint passing. He wrapped up the campaign ranked second in the league with 12 assists, finishing only behind established Premier League star Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United. Some of his setups have already gone down as moments of individual brilliance that left even his legendary manager in awe. In one standout match, Cherki dribbled across the 18-yard box with his right foot before delivering a blind left-footed pass — a pass played without looking toward his target — to teammate Marc Guéhi. After the play, City manager Pep Guardiola, who coached eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi during his time at Barcelona, admitted he never even saw that passing lane as an option, stunned by Cherki’s on-field creativity. Another memorable assist came via an audacious rabona pass, a cross kicked with the playing leg wrapped behind the standing leg, that set up Phil Foden for a goal.

While Cherki is best known for his passing prowess, his finishing and close control when in front of goal are equally spectacular. On his City debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he opened his scoring account for the club with a stunning goal initiated by an outrageous backheel flick that showcased his flair. Like Messi, Cherki can dribble directly at opposition defenders at full speed with the ball practically glued to his feet, a skill that has drawn repeated comparisons to the Argentine great. He even notched a memorable volley on his senior debut for the French national team against Spain in last June’s Nations League, proving he can deliver at the highest international level.

Guardiola, who has overseen some of the greatest attacking talents of the last three decades, has been unequivocal in his praise for the young Frenchman. “Rayan has something special,” he said. “He will become an extraordinary player with his mindset and mentality.”

For Deschamps, Cherki’s greatest value ahead of the World Cup lies in his exceptional versatility, which opens up a wide range of tactical options for the French manager. Capable of playing as an attacking midfielder, right winger (his regular role at City), or advanced playmaker operating just behind the center forward, Cherki has thrived in every position Deschamps has tested him. In March’s 3-1 friendly win over Colombia, he played as a second striker behind Marcus Thuram and contributed directly to two goals. Last November, he occupied the same role behind Kylian Mbappé in a match against Ukraine. When he received his first senior France call-up in May of last year, Cherki called the moment “the beginning of a beautiful adventure” — and that adventure could well lead him to global stardom at the World Cup.

Confidence is another defining trait of the 22-year-old, who has openly embraced his own unique skill set. When asked in a March interview with *France Football* to name Manchester City’s most technically gifted player, Cherki answered without hesitation: “Me.” He also describes himself as “one of the most unpredictable players on the planet” — exactly the kind of player a side needs to unlock a deep, organized defense that has shut down more predictable attacking threats. Like Messi, it is hard to identify Cherki’s stronger foot, with most of his most magical moments coming from his left, echoing the Argentine legend.

Cherki is the latest standout talent to emerge from Olympique Lyonnais’ renowned youth academy, the same production line that produced 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and gifted playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa. He made his Ligue 1 debut at just 16 years old in October 2019, and announced his talent to the world just weeks later in a French Cup match, where he scored two clinical goals, set up another with a spectacular midfield pass, drew a penalty (that his teammate missed), created a second assist, and nearly scored with an audacious lob that hit the crossbar. The mesmerizing performance for a player his age immediately put him on the scouting radar of Europe’s top clubs.

In his final season with Lyon, Cherki led the entire league with 11 assists, and Manchester City secured his transfer last summer for just 36 million euros ($41 million) — a price that now looks like a major bargain, secured in large part due to Lyon’s severe financial struggles. Guardiola had his eye on Cherki for years before the transfer: the young Frenchman scored against City in a youth Champions League match just after turning 15, making him the youngest goalscorer in the competition’s history.

Like Messi and the late Diego Maradona, who honed his craft on the streets of Buenos Aires, Cherki developed his exceptional balance and close control playing street soccer on the roads of Lyon in east-central France. After one season with local suburban club Saint-Priest, he joined Lyon’s academy at just seven years old, beginning the journey that has brought him to the cusp of World Cup selection.

While Cherki is not expected to earn a starting spot in France’s opening World Cup lineups, that is a reflection of the incredible depth of talent Les Bleus possess in attack. Deschamps is expected to field a front line of Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, and prolific superstar Kylian Mbappé — the only player in history to score in both the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals, netting a hat trick in the 2022 final against Argentina.

Deschamps will step down from his role as France manager after this World Cup, and former French captain Zinedine Zidane — the iconic midfield star who led France to victory at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, and also scored in two World Cup finals — is widely tipped to take over. Zidane, himself one of the most gifted midfielders in the history of the sport, is expected to build the future of French soccer around Cherki in the coming years. For now, Cherki heads into the tournament as the wildcard that could carry France all the way to glory.