WATCH LIVE: French Open men's final featuring Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal eyes a record-extending 14th French Open title, taking on Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final, live on NBC, NBCSports.com/live, the NBC Sports app and Peacock Premium on Sunday at 9 a.m. ET.
Nadal, bidding to become the oldest man to win the French Open, plays what could be his last match at Roland Garros on the 17th anniversary of his first French Open final.
He is 13-0 in finals in Paris and looking for a 22nd Grand Slam singles title, which would move him two ahead of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
WATCH LIVE: French Open men’s final, 9 a.m. ET — STREAM LINK
Throughout the tournament, Nadal cautioned that it could be his last French Open. A foot condition that he’s managed during his whole career has caused significant pain at times in the last year.
Yet Nadal still beat three top-10 seeds en route to the final, including Djokovic in the quarterfinals. On Sunday, the 36-year-old will try to lift a major title having beaten four top-10 opponents for the first time.
The No. 8 seed Ruud, who last week became the first Norwegian man to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal, semifinal and final, stands in the way. Ruud, 23, idolized Nadal and honed his craft at Nadal’s academy in Mallorca, Spain.
Ruud faced zero top-10 opponents on his way to the final. Seven of his eight career ATP Tour titles came on clay. Of Nadal’s 30 Grand Slam finals, this will be his first facing an opponent for the first time.
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Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier haven’t decided if they’ll compete beyond this season, so Saturday may have been their farewell to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
If so, they went out as dominant winners, the first pair in their 30s to win nationals in more than 50 years.
Knierim, 31, and Frazier, 30, took their second U.S. title together, totaling 227.97 points to prevail by 31.11 over Emily Chan and Spencer Howe. They led by a gaping 15.1 points after Thursday’s short.
Knierim and Frazier were solid after errors on their opening jumping combination in Saturday’s free skate. They broke their own pairs’ margin of victory record from the 2021 U.S. Championships under a scoring system implemented in 2006. Knierim appeared to wipe away tears backstage.
“As I get older, the longer I’m in this sport, the more gratitude I have for it,” Knierim, the oldest woman to win a U.S. figure skating title since 1995 (Renée Roca), said on USA Network. “After that music ended, I’m just thankful that Brandon’s by my side and I’m able to do what I love.”
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea bagged bronze to likely round out the three-pair team for March’s world championships.
FIGURE SKATING NATIONALS: Full Scores | Broadcast Schedule
Knierim and Frazier considered retiring after last season, after they missed nationals due to Frazier’s COVID-19, petitioned onto the Olympic team and posted the best Olympic finish for a U.S. pair (sixth) in 20 years.
They then became the first U.S. pair to win a world title since 1979, beating a field that didn’t include any of the top five from the Olympics.
They returned in part to compete as world champions and rank second in the world this season (during which the top Olympic pairs also haven’t competed). They will likely go into March’s worlds in Japan as underdogs to Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who won their lone head-to-head this past fall at the Grand Prix Final.
Back in October, Knierim said this will probably be their last season competing together, though the pair also thought they were done last spring. They don’t expect to make a final decision until after a Stars on Ice tour this spring.
“This U.S. Championships for us was extra special because you’re just reflecting on the journey, and you know that there’s a good chance that this will be your last one,” Frazier said.
Knierim won her fifth U.S. title, tying the record for a pairs’ skater since World War II, joining Kyoka Ina, Tai Babilonia, Randy Gardner, Karol Kennedy and Peter Kennedy. Knierim’s first three titles, and her first Olympics in 2018, were with husband Chris, who retired in 2020.
Silver medalists Chan and Howe continued their recent surge. After placing fourth at last season’s nationals, they rank sixth in the world this season. That’s despite summer injuries that left them unable to practice lifts (his shoulder) and throws (her foot) for a while.
Kam, 18, and O’Shea, 31, made the podium four months after becoming a pair and less than two months after a car Kim was riding in was hit by a drunk driver while crossing an intersection. The car was totaled, but Kim and O’Shea still competed days later in Croatia.
O’Shea won the 2016 U.S. title with Tarah Kayne, retired after they split in late 2020, then came back in 2021 with Chelsea Liu. They ranked sixth in the U.S. going into 2022 Nationals, but withdrew beforehand due to concussions both suffered in a November competition fall, according to Figure Skaters Online.
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Full scores and results from the 2023 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose …
Women
Gold: Isabeau Levito — 223.33
Silver: Bradie Tennell — 213.12
Bronze: Amber Glenn — 207.444. Starr Andrews — 188.245. Josephine Lee — 187.686. Lindsay Thorngren — 187.197. Clare Seo — 175.608. Gracie Gold — 173.989. Ava Ziegler — 167.7010. Sonja Hilmer — 166.4911. Gabriella Izzo — 166.4012. Ting Cui — 161.2713. Audrey Shin — 161.1214. Lindsay Wang — 154.9115. Michelle Lee — 145.2816. Elsa Cheng — 138.1317. Alexa Gasparotto — 129.41
