Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics
World No 1 and gold medal favourite Iga Swiatek of Poland was left in tears as she fell to a shock defeat to China’s Zheng Qinwen in her Paris Olympics singles semi-final at Roland Garros on Thursday.
But Spain's No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz safely negotiated his way into the last four of the men's draw after beating Tommy Paul of the USA.
After her 6-2, 7-5 defeat, which brought to a halt a 25-match winning streak on the red clay of Paris, Swiatek broke down in tears and later said she had "messed up".
"I had a hole in my backhand," she told Eurosport Poland. "It happens rarely because it is usually my most solid stroke."
Swiatek, who has won four French Open titles in Paris in the past five years, held a 6-0 career record against Zheng, but the 23-year-old clay court specialist produced one of her worst displays of the season, making 36 unforced errors against her opponent's 15.
"I was not technically well positioned because of the stress and the fact that I played my games day by day. We didn’t have time to adjust that and work on that," Swiatek said.
"I know that’s not the justification but I tried to correct that during the match. Today it didn’t work at all. So she used that to win the game."
The Pole was 4-0 up in the second set and looked on course to square the match at one set apiece until Zheng reeled off four games in a row before clinching the set to take the victory.
The last time Swiatek was beaten at Roland Garros was in the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2021 when she lost to Maria Sakkari. The best she can hope for now is a bronze medal.
Australian Open finalist Zheng, the No 7 seed, is the first Chinese player to reach an Olympic tennis final.
She will face either Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or Croatia's Donna Vekic in the showpiece.
Afterwards, Zheng said: "I'm so happy that I could make this history for China tennis because I always wanted to be one of the athletes who got a medal for China and now I'm one of them.
"But I know the fight is not over. It's not the end. The tournament is very long. So I'm really happy but at the same time I'm waiting for more. Of course, I have made history already but I don't want to stop here."
Alcaraz reached the semi-finals after a 6-3, 7-6 victory over American Paul but was made to work for his win.
After taking the first set comfortably, the No 2 seed had to come from a break down in the second set before winning it on a tiebreak.
The Spaniard, who has won the French Open and Wimbledon already this year, came through 9-7 in the decider. It guarantees him at least a bronze in his first ever appearance at the Games.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz will face either Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the gold medal match.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
