Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova 

Eighth seed Barty got off to a strong start and never looked back, winning 6-1, 6-3 after only 70 minutes to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.

The 23-year-old will rise to second in the world behind only Naomi Osaka when the latest rankings are released next week, after becoming the first Australian winner at Roland Garros since Margaret Court won the last of her five trophies in 1973.

She will be best-ranked Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

“It’s unbelievable, I’m a little bit speechless. I played the perfect match today. I’m so proud of myself and my team, it’s been a incredible two weeks,” said Barty.

“It’s a special place for Australians here. Sam (Stosur) has done well here before and come so close. It’s been a magical two weeks.”

Barty, who famously took a break from tennis to play professional cricket in 2015, struck 27 winners past an opponent riddled with nerves.

The 19-year-old Vondrousova saw her bid to become the first teenage Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova won the 2006 US Open come to a tame end, as the world number 38 made 22 unforced errors, against a mere 10 winners.

“Congratulations to you and your team, you gave me a lesson,” Vondrousova said to Barty at the trophy presentation.

“Even though I didn’t get the win today, I’m really happy with everything.”

– Nervous wait –

Almost 90 minutes after the match was due to start, the players made their way onto Court Philippe Chatrier, after Dominic Thiem’s thrilling five-set win over Novak Djokovic in the men’s semi-finals forced Barty and Vondrousova to endure a nervous wait.

The scheduling had already been criticised on Friday as a sexism row erupted when the women’s semis were moved away from the showpiece Chatrier court.

In fact, this was the first match on the premier Roland Garros arena in Vondrousova’s career, although she did have a brief practice session on Saturday morning.

The tension got the better of the Czech early on, as she double faulted to gift Barty two break points, before firing long to put her opponent 2-0 ahead.

Barty, who also reached the Australian Open quarter-finals earlier this year, consolidated the break with a confident love hold, leaving Vondrousova firmly on the back foot after only seven minutes of play.

Another break followed as Vondrousova threatened to fall apart, but she settled down and got herself on the scoreboard.

Barty quickly got back on track, and wrapped up the first set after only 29 minutes with a crunching forehand winner.

Vondrousova had it all to do in the second set having managed just two winners in the opener, but she contrived to drop serve again at the first time of asking.

She finally held serve for the first time in the match, though, saving two break points in the third game.

Vondrousova had reached the final without dropping a set and had the best record on tour since the Australian Open, but she left it too late to get her game in order on this occasion.

And Barty broke once more, hammering away a simple smash on her first match point to seal her moment in the spotlight, with Vondrousova left sitting on the bench in tears.

Phachara Khongwatmai and Thongchai Jaidee were tied at 1-1 after six holes in the final against Tom Lewis and Paul Waring, with another trip up the sixth unable to separate the teams.

That meant the innovative event would go down to nearest the pin in the final for the first time in its three year history, and it was Khongwatmai – 29 years his team-mate’s junior at just 20 years old – who hit his tee shot to concession range to claim the win.

The sixth hole, with its tee shot over a swimming pool and party atmosphere has provided incredible scenes throughout the event, not least Jaidee’s hole-in-one to eliminate Ireland in the group stages.

But even the 49-year-old, with 393 European Tour appearances and eight wins under his belt coming into this week, can never have experienced anything like these two days of six hole modified greensomes, which ended with the team-mates jumping into the pool to celebrate.

“I’m lucky today,” said Jaidee.  “We played well today but I think the teamwork was very important. I’m very happy to win again. I never won in two, three years but now is a good time to win and thank you to my partner, Phachara.”

Khongwatmai added: “It was really fun and really fun to play with Thongchai for Thailand. He taught me about the format of the game and I’m really happy to have Thongchai, so happy. ”

After winning Group B on day one, Thailand beat Scotland and Spain to set up the clash with Group A winners England, who defeated Sweden and Italy in the knockout stages.

Waring went over the back of the green with England’s approach to the first in the final and they could not get up and down, allowing Thailand to take an early lead with a routine par.

Both teams missed the green at the second and while both recovery shots were clumsy, a pair of two putts meant the hole was halved in bogeys.

Thailand beat Scotland 2-1 in the last eight as Khongwatmai gave them a perfect start when he nearly drove the first, while Jaidee’s excellent tee shot on the third was enough in the semi-finals for a 1-0 win over Spain, who missed good birdie chances on the first and second.

England had jumped out into an early 2-0 lead against Alexander Björk and Joakim Lagergren in the quarter-finals before Björk grabbed a hole back with a stunning tee shot on the third.

The semi-final saw Italy bogey the first before Lewis hit a wonderful tee shot at the third and make a 15 foot birdie on the fifth in a 3-0 win.

Spaniards Jorge Campillo and Nacho Elvira needed just four holes to beat Italy in the third/fourth place play-off, making birdies thanks to wonderful iron shots on the first, third and fourth, while the second was halved in bogeys.

Italian pair Lorenzo Gagli and Edoardo Molinari had earlier beaten France in a nearest the pin play-off in the quarter-finals, while Spain were 2-1 winners over Australia in their last-eight contest.

http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2019/tournamentid=2019050/news/newsid=371145.html#qUlkK0to8A4HOVqe.99

Ranked seventh in the world, Ratchanok had no answer to the solid all court game of the top seed and world No 3 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, losing 17-21 15-21 in 46 minutes.

Ratchanok, who has two titles under her belt this season by winning the India Open and Malaysia Masters, has lost seven out of 12 matches in her head-to-head record with the 2017 world champion,

Also bowing out in the last four was Nitchaon Jindapol who fell to world No 2 Chen Yufei of China

21-10 23-25 21-6. The 29^th ranked Thai never beat the Chinese in all of their six meetings.

However, the semi-final berth in Sydney is still the best result by Nitchaon this year. Her last semi-final appearance was in the Singapore Open in July last year.

Supported by the Sports Authority of Thailand, the National Sports Development Fund, Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club, Wangson Image Company Limited, Siam Commercial Bank, P. Overseas Steel, Port Authority of Thailand and Singha Corporation,  the LET Thailand Championship, which offers a total prize money of 300,000 euros (approximately Bt11 million) is co-sanctioned by Ladies European Tour (LET) and Thai Ladies Professional Golf Association (Thai LPGA).

A total of 126 players, top 70 from the LET, top 40 from the Thai LPGA and 16 from sponsor invites, will compete in a 72-hole stroke play format for which will select only top 60 players for  the weekend rounds.

Chonburi-based Kanyalak who has switched to compete more on the LET after winning the 2018 LET Thailand Championship says: “I’m so glad to be back at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club where I had a good memory last year. I’m a bit under pressure as I have to defend my title for the first time. But I keep telling myself to focus more on what I have to do so that I don’t have to worry about the title defence too much.”

The LET Thailand Championship is one of Thailand’s leading women’s golf tournaments and will celebrate its third anniversary. Over the past two editions, Thai players including 2017 victor Atthaya Thitikul have reigned supreme in the tournament.

“The tournament serves as an arena for Thai players to pit their skills against leading golfers on the Ladies European Tour. It will prove a valuable experience for local golfers as it was to me 12 months ago,” the defending champion adds.

Apart from the world ranking points, the LET Thailand Championship winner will receive an LET Tour card which entitles them to berths into the British Women’s Open and the Evian Championship.

“It’s a great experience for me to be the only Thai playing regularly on the LET. I’ve learnt a lot of new things and techniques I didn’t know before. I hope a lot of fans will come to support us in the LET Thailand Championship and I keep my finger crossed that a Thai will win the title once more,” says the 21-year-old Kanyalak.

Live coverage of the LET Thailand Championship can be followed on TrueSport HD3 on June 22 and 23 between 1pm – 4pm. Tickets, Bt100 per day per person, are available at the public entrance to the course. Those under 18 and over 60 are exempt for entry fee.

For more details, please visit https://m.facebook.com/LadiesEuropeanThailandChampionship/

The home team lost the goal in the 17^th minute when Anirudh Thapa converted on a pass from Adil Ahmed Khan. Thapa also scored a goal for India in the Asian Cup against Thailand in January which also ended in the Indian favour 4-1.

Thailand launched a series of raids in the second half but their attempts proved to no avail due to better teamwork and solid defence of the visitors.

The defeat added salt to Thai wound after they lost to arch-rivals Vietnam 0-1 in the previous game on Wednesday.

However, captain Teerasil Dangda, after missing the clash with Vietnam, finally made his appearance in the game and won his 100^th cap. He  became the fifth Thai to achieve the milestone after Piyapong Pue-on , Kiatisuk Senamuang, Totchtawan Sripan and Datsakorn Thonglao.

Dismal results in the friendly tournament will affect the destiny of acting coach Sirisak Yodyathai as the Football Association of Thailand may look for a new permanent coach.

Ranked seventh in the world, Ratchanok had no answer to the solid all court game of the top seed and world No 3 Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, losing 17-21 15-21 in 46 minutes.

Ratchanok, who has two titles under her belt this season by winning the India Open and Malaysia Masters, has lost seven out of 12 matches in her head-to-head record with the 2017 world champion,

Also bowing out in the last four was Nitchaon Jindapol who fell to world No 2 Chen Yufei of China

21-10 23-25 21-6. The 29^th ranked Thai never beat the Chinese in all of their six meetings.

However, the semi-final berth in Sydney is still the best result by Nitchaon this year. Her last semi-final appearance was in the Singapore Open in July last year.

The Thai player walked off the course smiling and said: “I didn’t expect this.”

Pornanong finished her day by making an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole, this week’s Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole, which was playing 463-yards in the first round. She hit a 5-wood to reach the green in two, leaving herself a 12-foot putt for eagle, which she said she was able to make by not thinking of the stakes. “I think I just not put pressure [on] myself, so just almost straight putt, so it’s like — you know, like relaxed for me, and I make it.”

In 2018, Pornanong was a surprise leader at the AIG Women’s British Open playing in the final group with eventual champion and hometown favorite Georgia Hall. On Friday in Galloway, N.J., Pornanong said she learned a lot from her experience at the major and learned to focus on herself. She also said she drew confidence from her second top-20 finish of the season, a T16 finish at last week’s U.S. Women’s Open which helped her during round one on Friday.

“I feel like I get more confident after last week, and yeah, I tried to be like playing my game and not put pressure on myself, so it makes me more relaxed on the course, and yeah, more good result.”

Close behind the leaders is Rolex Rankings No. 4 Lexi Thompson, and 2019 LPGA rookies Kristen Gillman andMuni He at 7-under par. Gillman got off to a hot start going birdie-birdie-eagle on Friday, before posting a career-best 64.

“I think that kind of took some pressure off for the rest of the day, but I told myself don’t let up, even though it’s hard whenever you get 4-under after three holes to kind of cruise after that,” Gillman said. “But I tried my best to keep focusing on every shot and hit the best shot I can.”

Muni He’s 64 is a career-best round by four strokes, and she said she really felt what it was like to be in the zone on Friday at Seaview. “Today out there I tried to like switch things up a little bit and not really think too much about my score, and I was more focused on shot by shot, and I felt like time just went by really quickly. I wasn’t really aware of my score the whole time I feel like.”

LEE6 BACK WHERE SHE LEFT OFF

Coming off her maiden LPGA Tour victory at the U.S. Women’s Open Championship, Jeongeun Lee6 was the only one from the afternoon wave to crack the top of the leaderboard at the ShopRite LPGA Classic with an 8-under 63. A roller coaster round that included an eagle, nine birdies and three birdies, Lee6 said she thought she had a lot of good shots out on the course.

“I made a lot of putts. So that’s why I had so many birdie chances. And also I did pretty good with the middle-length clubs,” said Lee6.

Despite some late afternoon winds, Lee6 said the weather did not get in the way of her play. “I try to remind myself just to make my shots, to think about the rhythms and everything and just to be consistent with all my shots and all my short game, and so that’s what I’ve been focusing on, and so that’s why I feel more confident. And then also I focus more on the putting, the green speed.”

Fans of the new major champion made their presence known in New Jersey, especially in the 17^th green galleries, and Lee6 said it made her feel good going into the weekend. “I feel really surprised how people were — it was so crowded, and the people out there on the stage, like they were wearing tee shirts, Lee6, so I was surprised about it, and I feel pretty happy and confident.”

The 33-year-old produced a masterful performance to get past Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the last four on Court Philippe Chatrier and set up a final clash with either world number one Novak Djokovic or Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem on Sunday.

The second semi-final was suspended until Saturday due to rain, with Thiem leading 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 as he looks to reach a second straight Roland Garros final.

The decision to end play drew extra ire towards the tournament organisers, after they had been labelled a “disgrace” for moving the women’s semi-finals away from the showpiece Chatrier court.

It will be Nadal’s 12th appearance in the championship match, which he has never lost before.

“In front (of me was) probably my biggest rival in my career with all the story that we shared together,” said Nadal. “So that always makes the match a little bit more special and unique.”

The third seed now has an stunning 92-2 win-loss record on the Paris clay, having beaten Federer for the sixth time in as many French Open meetings despite difficult, windy conditions.

“This court can be windy, can be difficult,” added Nadal. “Today was a little bit too much.”

Nadal also leads his overall head-to-head against Federer 24-15, and 14-2 on clay after ending a run of five straights losses to the 37-year-old.

He could also move to within two of Federer on the all-time Grand Slam title winners’ list with an 18th major on Sunday.

A tally of just nine games meant it was Federer’s heaviest defeat in a Grand Slam match since managing only four against Nadal in their famously one-sided 2008 Roland Garros final.

Nadal made only 19 unforced errors, crushing 33 winners as Federer struck 25, although that amount could easily have been doubled against any opponent other than the 11-time champion.

The defeat leaves Federer still waiting for a first victory over Nadal on clay since 10 years ago in Madrid.

It was 2009 champion Federer’s first French Open campaign since 2015, after skipping the clay-court season for two years in order to be better prepared for Wimbledon.

“I think I surprised myself maybe how deep I got in this tournament and how well I actually was able to play throughout,” he said.

– Topsy-turvy start –

A topsy-turvy start saw the Spaniard race through the first three games before Federer broke back as the wind played havoc with the players’ serves from one end.

But Nadal grabbed a 4-2 advantage in a marathon sixth game as Federer, looking to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist since Ken Rosewall at the 1974 US Open, dumped a forehand into the net.

The crowd were roaring on Federer as he saved a set point, but gasped in appreciation of a rasping Nadal backhand winner which clinched the opening set.

The Swiss turned on the style to take the first two games of the second set, only to be broken straight back as Nadal curled a trademark forehand up the line.

The key moments came towards the end of the second set, when second seed Nadal managed to hold under severe pressure to level at 4-4, before putting the pedal down to break despite having trailed 40-0.

The defending champion confidently served out the set to love to move one step closer to the final.

Federer’s chances were slipping away quickly, and he received a warning after angrily hitting the ball into the upper reaches of Philippe Chatrier as Nadal romped to victory.

– Thiem, Djokovic held up by rain –

Thiem would have been the happier of the two to resume playing on Friday, leading by a break in the third set after sharing the opening two with Djokovic.

The pair will instead restart their match at 1000 GMT (12:00 local time) on Saturday, before the women’s final between Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova and Australian eighth seed Ashleigh Barty.

The skies brightened almost immediately after play was ended for the day at 1645 GMT (18:45 local), and at least another two hours of play could have been accommodated.

“I believe that we have hit rock bottom but the good thing is that the only way now is up,” said former women’s world number one Amelie Mauresmo.

Top seed Djokovic had been increasingly frustrated with the conditions on court with high winds kicking up the clay.

He even summoned the tour supervisor at one stage to complain about the severity of the conditions.

Tournament organisers said that fans holding tickets for the semi-final will be fully refunded as they will not be valid for Saturday.

Dominic Thiem

Organisers said the decision was taken due to the worsening weather conditions but just after play was suspended for the day at 6:45pm (1645 GMT), bright skies appeared over the site.

In theory that could have allowed for another two hours of play.

Austrian fourth seed Thiem led 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 against the world number one when the players left Court Philippe Chatrier.

The semi-final will resume at midday (1000 GMT) on Saturday, organisers said.

The winner will play Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final, after the 11-time champion beat old rival Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 earlier on Friday.

Top seed Djokovic had been increasingly frustrated with the conditions on court with high winds kicking up the clay.

He even summoned the tour supervisor at one stage to complain about the severity of the gusts.

The Serb, seeking to become just the second man in history to hold all four Slams at the same time twice, even asked a bemused Andreas Egli if there was an “extreme wind” rule.

“It hasn’t rained for 50 minutes and already play has been cancelled,” tweeted Amelie Mauresmo, France’s former world number one.

She had already blasted the decision to switch the two women’s semi-finals earlier in the day away from Chatrier as a “disgrace”.

“I believe that we have hit rock bottom,” Mauresmo added.

Novak Djokovic

Tournament organisers said fans holding tickets for the semi-final would be fully refunded as they will not be valid for Saturday.

Djokovic has experienced similar delays before and bounced back during his ongoing 26-match Grand Slam win streak.

He played the last two sets of his Wimbledon semi-final last year against Nadal and returned the next day to beat Kevin Anderson in the final.

Tournament director Guy Forget said the decision to halt play was taken because high winds of up to 80km/h were expected in the evening.

“The players had already stopped twice (for rain) and as the referee will tell you, it is painful for everyone, especially the players,” Forget told L’Equipe.

He also blasted stories of Djokovic having left the grounds before play had been called off as completely inaccurate.

– ‘They said OK’ –

“The protocol is that we talk to the players first and then we make an announcement,” Forget said.

“I do not know who left first, but the two players were told at exactly at the same time. They looked at each other and said, ‘OK’.”

Forget’s insistence did not dampen speculation over other reasons possibly in play when there was seemingly enough daylight available to even finish the match.

Former two-time champion Jim Courier, broadcasting for Britain’s ITV, said the decision to come back on Saturday played into Djokovic’s hands.

“This is going to sting… these conditions are very difficult for Novak, these are very advantageous for Dominic Thiem,” argued the American.

“Nadal and Federer came ready to accept the conditions and so did Thiem. But Novak came ready to not like them. The happiest person right now would be Novak on his way back home.”

Whoever makes the final on Sunday will have played every day for four days as both Djokovic and Thiem only completed their quarter-finals on Thursday.

A sell-out crowd of 45,261 filled the Parc des Princes to watch the start of what is billed as the biggest women’s World Cup yet, but there was no sign of the pressure getting to the French.

Les Bleues are among the favourites to win the trophy on home soil and they showed no mercy to the Koreans, with the prolific Eugenie Le Sommer giving them an early lead and Renard — the tallest player at the tournament — twice heading home before the interval.

Captain Amandine Henry, impressive throughout, wrapped up the win in this Group A encounter, a goal she said was “the realisation of a dream I had as a little girl”.

“We went into the match the right way,” Henry told broadcaster TF1, revealing her team had become emotional during the national anthem.

“We were close to tears when the ‘Marseillaise’ was playing, the emotions were running high.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte watched France’s victory, sitting alongside FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.

– ‘Explosion’ of women’s game –

Infantino had this week promised the month-long tournament would see the “explosion” of the women’s game as he was re-elected unopposed at the head of world football’s governing body. Almost a million tickets have been sold for matches in the nine host cities.

This was certainly a fine start with a carnival atmosphere despite the cool evening and the French showing their credentials.

France’s own football federation have set the team the target of going all the way to the final in Lyon on July 7.

The problem for coach Corinne Diacre’s side is that, if they win their group, they could well end up facing reigning champions the United States in Paris in the quarter-finals.

Germany, who face China on Saturday, and England are also among the contenders.

The USA, whose legal battle to be paid the same as their male counterparts has made waves in the run-up to the tournament, start their campaign against Thailand in Reims on Tuesday.

Ranked fourth in the world, the French women have underperformed at recent major tournaments, losing in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, Euro 2017 and the last Olympics.

Diacre is relying on a core of players from Lyon, Europe’s leading club side who won a fourth successive Champions League last month.

There were seven Lyon players in France’s starting line-up, and two of them combined for the ninth-minute opener, captain Henry with the low ball into the box for Le Sommer to fire in off the crossbar. It was Le Sommer’s 75th goal for her country.

South Korea offered little, with their star player, Chelsea’s Ji So-yun, barely touching the ball.

France thought they had a second before the half-hour mark when Renard’s header down was hooked into the net by Griedge Mbock, but after the celebrations had finally died down, the goal was disallowed for an extremely tight offside following a VAR review.

The 1.87-metre (6ft 1ins) Renard was not to be denied, however, as she headed in Gaetane Thiney’s corner from the right in the 35th minute to make it 2-0.

She did it again in first-half stoppage time, this time heading in an Amel Majri corner from the other side.

Korea can count themselves lucky that this did not turn into a full-blown rout, although the excellent Henry curled in a delightful fourth from 20 yards with five minutes left.

“I would like to say sorry to football fans in Korea,” said their coach, Yoon Deok-yeo. “Today’s match showed how strong France are.”