Ronaldo is favourite for the 2016 Ballon d'Or>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS SPORT

Cristiano Ronaldo is the favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or after making himself the hero of the Champions League final.

On Saturday evening, the Portuguese forward showed why he should be the winner of the best player in the world award by securing the 'Undecima' for Real Madrid.

Striking the winning penalty in the shoot-out, Ronaldo won his third Champions League title in the most dramatic of fashions.

Once again, the No.7 is putting up incredible numbers this year. 

Despite Real's ups and downs this season, Ronaldo has scored 51 goals over

 the course of the campaign, with 35 in La Liga and 16 in Europe.

That has made him the only player in history to score over 50 goals for six seasons in a row.

No Barcelona player, not even Luis Suarez with his European Golden Shoe award, has been able to overcome the Portuguese as the favourite to win the 2016 Ballon d'Or.

In fact, at Camp Nou they already consider it inevitable that Ronaldo will take home the prize next January.

The bookies appear to agree with the Madrid man the current favourite.

The winner of the Ballon d'Or is usually the one who wins the most important tournaments and Ronaldo has the shortest odds to win after securing another Champions League medal.

Of course, there remain several months before the voting closes and nothing is yet set in stone.

That is why he will look to further demonstrate to the world why he should win by performing well at Euro 2016.

As captain of his national side, Ronaldo is Portugal's key player and he knows this all too well.

Behind every great player is a great coach and Zinedine Zidane has, by winning the Champions League, achieved in just a few months what most coaches can only dream of.

His transformation of Los Blancos has been as dramatic as it has been quick, which is why he must also expect recognition at next January's awards gala.

By winning European football's top prize, as well as pushing Barcelona all the way in La Liga, Zidane could win the FIFA Coach of the Year award, just as Luis Enrique did after his debut season with the Catalans.

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The Latest: Play done for day at French Open thanks to rain>>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS GOLF

PARIS (AP) The Latest from the French Open (all times local):

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6:55 p.m.

All play at the French Open is done for the day because of rain.

Among the matches suspended in progress: Novak Djokovic's fourth-rounder against Roberto Bautista Agut. They played a total of two hours, spread across the afternoon, and split the first two sets, with Djokovic leading 4-1 in the third.

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6:30 p.m.

More matches in the women's draw have been postponed at the French Open because of the bad weather and the Williams sisters won't be stepping onto the court before Wednesday.

Four more fourth-round singles ties have been scrapped from Tuesday's program: defending champion Serena Williams vs. No. 18-seed Elina Svitolina, No. 9 Venus Williams vs. No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky, Kiki Bertens vs. No. 15 Madison Keys and No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Yulia Putintseva.

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5:25 p.m.

The weather is not expected to improve In Paris and French Open organizers have announced that the two first men's quarterfinals scheduled Tuesday have been postponed.

Second-seeded Andy Murray is now set to take on No. 9-seed Richard Gasquet on Wednesday. Defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who was scheduled to play Albert Ramos-Vinolas, has also been given an extra day off.

All matches that have already started won't resume before 6 p.m.

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5:10 p.m.

Play is again being delayed by bad weather at the French Open.

After dropping his first set at Roland Garros this year, top-ranked Novak Djokovic has recovered and leads 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 4-1 when their match was suspended.

Although play has been stopped on all courts, stadium workers have not put the covers back and matches could resume soon.

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4:20 p.m.

Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska is out of the French Open, losing to Tsvetana Pironkova 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday in the fourth round.

Radwanska, who held a 6-2, 3-0 lead when her match resumed on Court Suzanne Lenglen, lost 10 consecutive games to put herself in deep trouble.

She asked for a medical timeout after the third game of the decider to receive treatment on her right forearm and hand. It didn't have an immediate effect as she dropped her serve at love in the next game.

Radwanska finally managed to stop the downhill spiral when she broke in the fifth game but could not stop Pironkova from advancing to the quarterfinals.

Their match was suspended on Sunday night and could not resume on Monday because of the rain that washed out play at the clay-court Grand Slam.

Pironkova advanced to her third career Grand Slam quarterfinal after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2010 and making it to quarters at the All England Club the next year.

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4:10 p.m.

Samantha Stosur has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the fourth time.

The 32-year-old Australian, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2010, beat sixth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 7-6 (0), 6-3.

The players were pulled off court in the first set on Sunday evening because of rain and darkness and could not play Monday when the entire day was washed out for the first time in 16 years.

Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, will next play either Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria or Agnieszka Radwanksa of Poland.

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3:30 p.m.

Novak Djokovic is back on court at the French Open, where play has resumed after a rain delay of more than 2 1/2 hours.

Before the break, Djokovic lost the first set of his fourth-round match against No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3.

Shortly before the action on Court Philippe Chatrier returned, Djokovic wandered out into the arena for a look at the conditions, borrowing a green-and-orange Roland Garros umbrella from a fan.

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3 p.m.

Three-time French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's pick to take home the title from Roland Garros this year?

Serena Williams.

Says Sanchez Vicario: ''I think she's the favorite to win. She's always the favorite.''

That doesn't mean it's a lock, though.

''Definitely she is a human being,'' Sanchez Vicario added Tuesday, when she was announced at Roland Garros as an ambassador for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore, ''so she's beatable. ... At other tournaments that people (didn't) expect her to lose, she lost.''

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12:55 p.m.

Novak Djokovic is not having an easy time in the rain at the French Open, dropping the first set of his fourth-round match against 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain by a 6-3 score.

It is the first set Djokovic has lost in this year's tournament as he tries to win a fourth consecutive major title and complete a career Grand Slam.

Djokovic has already been broken three times in four service games against Bautista Agut, who is trying to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Right after the opening set ended, play was suspended on Court Philippe Chatrier because of the weather, and Djokovic and Bautista Agut headed to the locker room.

Rain is delaying play in all singles matches at the moment.

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12:45 p.m.

The damp conditions don't suit Agnieszka Radwanska on Court Suzanne Lenglen, where the second-seeded Polish player has just lost six games in a row and the second set against Tsvetana Pironkova.

The 102th-ranked Pironkova trailed 6-2, 3-0 when the match resumed. She got off to a strong start and overpowered Radwanska with aggressive shot making to force a decider before play was suspended.

Matches on other courts continued, though.

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12:10 p.m.

Players have finally stepped out on court at the French Open.

There has been a break in the weather and second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska is hoping to quickly complete her fourth-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Radwanska is trying to reach the quarterfinals for the second time in Paris as she holds a 6-2, 3-0 lead over her 102th-ranked Bulgarian rival. Their match was suspended on Sunday night and could not resume on Monday because of the rain that washed out play at the clay-court Grand Slam.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is on Court Philippe Chatrier against 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarterfinals.

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11:00 a.m.

Play is again being delayed at the French Open.

After stadium workers swept rain off the covers to make the courts ready for play, the tarps are back and organizers say there will be no match before 11:30 a.m.

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10:45 a.m.

With more bad weather expected Tuesday, French Open organizers are trying to get as many matches as possible out of the way before the rain.

After Monday's complete washout at the clay-court Grand Slam, matches will start at 11:00 a.m. - three hours earlier than initially planned - and be spread over more courts.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic takes on 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier, playing for a place in the quarterfinals.

They will be followed by defending champion Serena Williams in her delayed fourth-round match against 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina.

The first men's quarterfinals are also scheduled: Second-seeded Andy Murray against Richard Gasquet, and defending champion Stan Wawrinka against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

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Jeremy Stephens on win over Barao: 'He didn't have the cardio to keep up' with me>>>>

UFC featherweight contender Jeremy Stephens believes that Renan Barao's cardio played a major factor in Stephens' win over the former bantamweight champion at UFC Fight Night 88.



SPORT DADDY NEWS UFC

UFC Fight Night 88 this past Sunday (May 29th, 2016) featured a barrage of upsets. One upset in particular was Renan Barao'sdebut in the UFC featherweight division against No. 9 rankedJeremy Stephens.

Stephens, who was previously coming off a unanimous decision loss to No. 4 ranked Max Holloway in December, was more than happy to welcome the former UFC bantamweight champion to the 145-pound division.

The two men engaged in a three-round war that saw Stephens' hand being raised in the end, as well as taking home Fight of the Night (FOTN) honors. While Stephens (25-12) credited Barao for his toughness, he also believed he mentally broke the former champion.

"He's pretty tough, he took a lot of big shots tonight, shots I put guys out with," Stephens said in the post-fight press conference. "But yeah I feel like mentally I did break him in the Octagon, the game plan was to put it on him, go forward, pressure, pressure, pressure, and he didn't have the cardio tonight to keep up."

Stephens noted that the now-former 135-pound king T.J. Dillashaw was able to finish Barao twice in his bantamweight tenure, something the hard-hitting featherweight was unable to accomplish, despite badly hurting him multiple times in round 2.

"Yeah TJ Dillashaw, another great former champion, he just put it on him, didn't allow himself to be bullied and utilizes a lot of swift techniques and he broke Barao," Stephens said. "He was able to TKO him twice. I hit a lot harder and I wan't able to knock him out or TKO him. It just goes to show that the true champion Barao is."

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Fore! Giant gator strolls across Florida golf course>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS GOLF

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Alligators living on or around Florida golf courses is nothing new, but one gator has gone viral after it was caught on camera ambling through a golf course.

Charles Helms was with a friend at Buffalo Creek Golf Club in Palmetto when he spotted what appeared to be a 14 to 15 foot gator casually strolling across the course.

He immediately pulled out his phone and began recording it, CBS Miami reported.

"That is the biggest freakin' alligator I have ever seen in my life," a man can be heard saying on the recording.

"You've got to be kidding me," another voice said.

"I think that's two guys in an alligator suit," said the first voice, who adds, "That's a monster."

Helms posted the video on his Facebook page on May 25 and it blew up from there.

Golf.com was one of many media outlets that took the video and posted it on YouTube.

The massive alligator is apparently a regular at the course.

Buffalo Creek employee Wendy Schofield told a local news station, "He doesn't bother anybody and they don't bother him, he's like a mascot for the course."

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AFTER PLAYOFF COLLAPSE, DURANT FUTURE IS THUNDER'S QUESTION>>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS NBA

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — As Stephen Curry dribbled out the clock in a raucous Oracle Arena, Kevin Durant could only stand and watch.

The Golden State Warriors are heading back to the NBA Finals, while Durant's future in Oklahoma City is much less certain.

Two nights after blowing an opportunity to close out the defending champion Warriors at home, the Thunder got sent home for the summer when they lost Game 7 of the Western Conference finals 96-88 on Monday night.

"We wanted to win the whole thing," Durant said. "There's no moral victories in our locker room after the game. We were all upset. We wanted to get a chance to play for a championship in the finals, so that hurts."

Instead of becoming known as the team that knocked off the Warriors after their record-setting 73-win regular season, the Thunder will be remembered for a playoff collapse. They became just the 10th NBA team to lose a playoff series after taking a 3-1 lead and now head into an uncertain offseason with Durant eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.

Durant said it was too soon to even think about what will happen in July.

"Unfortunately we didn't come out on top," Durant said. "That's something that all the guys are upset about. But we laid it all out there. Everybody left their soul out on the court. We have no regrets."

If he does leave the only franchise he has played for in his nine-year career, he will do it having failed to deliver the championship to Oklahoma City. The closest the Thunder have gotten in Durant's tenure was when they lost the NBA Finals in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in 2012.

They then lost in the second round the next season, in the conference finals in 2014 to San Antonio before missing the playoffs entirely because of an injury to Durant last year.

But under first-year coach Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City earned the third seed in the top-heavy Western Conference this season and then upset 67-win San Antonio in the second round. The Thunder followed that by winning three of the first four games against the Warriors, with a pair of lopsided wins at home.

But after losing Game 5 on the road, the Thunder blew an opportunity to eliminate the Warriors at home on Saturday night. Oklahoma City led by seven points with less than five minutes remaining but made only one basket and committed six turnovers down the stretch of a 108-101 loss that could haunt the franchise for years.

"There was an opportunity for us to close the series out in 5 and 6 and 7 and we came up a little short," Donovan said. "But I don't know if that tells the story of the full seven games if you look at the entirety."

The Thunder responded on the road in Game 7 by taking a 13-point lead in the second quarter. But once Curry and Klay Thompson started hitting Oklahoma City with a flurry of 3-pointers, the Thunder had no answer. The Splash Brothers combined for 13 3-pointers as Golden State outscored Oklahoma City by 30 points from behind the line.

"They beat us in the 3-point line the last two games," Durant said. "We beat them everywhere else, they beat us from the 3-point line and that was the series."

Oklahoma City's stars were no match. Russell Westbrook missed 14 of 21 from the field and shot just 36.8 percent in the three potential clinchers. Durant finished with 27 points but took only 10 shots in the first three quarters.

Durant did score seven straight points to cut an 11-point deficit to four with 1:40 remaining. But Serge Ibaka then fouled Curry on a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down, allowing Golden State to build the lead back to seven.

"That was the dagger for us," Durant said. "That kind of hurt us."

Durant then missed two shots and could only stare blankly when Curry ended Oklahoma City's season with a 3-pointer with 26.8 seconds left. Now the Thunder can only hope it doesn't end Durant's tenure in Oklahoma City as well.

"We just lost like 30 minutes ago," Durant said. "I haven't even thought about it. I'm just embracing my teammates and reflecting on the season." 

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Messi trial: How will tax case unfold?>>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS SPORT

Lionel Messi's court case for unpaid taxes begins on Tuesday morning with media interest so great that the trial was moved from Gava, a small town in Catalonia, to Barcelona.

The 28-year-old and his father have been charged with tax fraud and could be sentenced to 22 months in prison if found guilty of defrauding Spain's tax offices of €4.1 million.

In defence, the player's lawyer has called for just a financial penalty, if proven guilty, due to his lack of culpability in his financial dealings.

The Barcelona player says he knew nothing of the contracts signed and has dedicated himself to playing football while his father, who he has total confidence in, looks after the financial side of the footballer's life.

"I dedicate myself to playing football," said Messi.

"At the end of the year I see the summary of the money I have, but I do not ask where it comes from. I know the club pays me and nothing else."

Messi injured himself playing for Argentina against Honduras but will travel back to Barcelona to sit in for the court case despite speculation that he would ask for a postponement of the trial.

It is not until Thursday that the Argentine is due in court.

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Jarvis Landry isn't satisfied with 'Top 100' ranking>>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS NFL

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry isn't resting on his laurels after a break out Year 2.

Last season Landry set an NFL record for most receptions by a receiver in his first two seasons in the league with 195 and also shattered the Dolphins' single-season reception mark (110).

His production on the field earned him a Pro Bowl invitation and placed him on NFL Network's "The Top 100 Players of 2016," occupying the 98th spot.

Players fortunate enough to be selected on the "Top 100" list usually have an interesting response upon hearing the news and Landry was not an exception.

"I honestly was honored, but disappointed at the same time," Landry said, per ESPN. "I think any guy that isn't No. 1 believes he should be No. 1. If not, I don't want to play with them; I don't want them around me. That's just the way I see it, and that's my competitive nature speaking out a little bit."

The Dolphins record-breaking wideout wants to build on his 110 reception for 1,157 yards season in South Beach.

"I feel like for me, [there is] always room to get better no matter how much you've accomplished, what you've done or what you can do," Landry said. "For me, I'm focused on continuing to build on my strengths, finding weaknesses in the details of our routes, details of catching the football, assignments and trying to master them."

Landry can improve on being a better red zone target. He only had four touchdowns last season and nine in his career. The LSU product can also work on his deep threat ability. Landry averaged 10.5 yards per reception last season, 105 among qualifying wide receivers.

Along with his improvement, the third-year receiver's ascension up the "Top 100" will have a lot to do with the continued progression from Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill's last two seasons in Miami were nearly identical, but the Dolphins want more from the man they sign to a $96 million extension.

We'll revisit Landry's ranking about a year from now.

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Dominick Cruz: Conor McGregor is a 'failure of his own success'>>>>>

Dominick Cruz says if they going to pay him 100 times what he makes now, "Conor McGregor money", he'll do pretty much anything the UFC asks him to do.



SPORT DADDY NEWS UFC

Dominick Cruz doesn't really want to take sides in the "battle" between Conor McGregor and the UFC. He understands both sides of things - he's done his fair share of promotion, and also knows what it's like to want to focus on fighting coming off a loss. But as a guest on The MMA Hour, he also said he'd do drastic things if he was making the money Conor was - heck, even he'd live with a media member for his camp (via MMA Fighting):

"When you look at what the UFC wants, they want you to do the media," Cruz said. "Conor is a failure of his own success. He's so good at this media that they're going to ask him to do a ton. But I'll be honest, if the UFC said, 'hey Dominick, we're going to pay you 100 times what you're getting paid now and you're going to make Conor McGregor money,' I'll go live with Ariel Helwani for my entire camp, eat everything you eat, do every radio interview you do, go out there and be ready to fight."

Basically, he thinks Conor's incredible presence with the media actually can work against him:

"So it's like, it's kind of a mixed thing. He's getting paid a lot of money to do this stuff, a lot of money, and people want to see it. He's in high demand. So, because he's in high demand, that makes him a failure of his own success, if you get what I'm saying."

Cruz defends his title against Urijah Faber at UFC 199 on June 4th. McGregor's issues with the UFC appear to be in the past for now, as the promotion tried to put together a rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202. Negotiations are still ongoing with Diaz, however.

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France’s Bourdy leads 13 qualifiers into U.S. Open golf championship>>>>

 France’s Gregory Bourdy led 13 players into the field for the U.S. Open golf championship next month at Oakmont Country Club in the International Sectional qualifier at Walton Heath in Surrey, England on Monday.

Four-time European Tour winner Bourdy shot rounds of 67 and 68 to finish nine-under-par, two shots clear of Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg, to lead the qualifying event for the U.S. Open which takes place outside Pittsburgh starting on June 16.

Irishman Padraig Harrington, announced last week as one of Darren Clarke’s vice-captains for this year’s Ryder Cup, bogeyed his final two holes to miss out on the playoff by one shot.

Lundberg, a three-time European Tour winner, will make his major championship debut after posting his seven-under total in cold and blustery conditions.

Bourdy’s compatriots Gary Stal and Romain Wattel will join him in the field after both finished on four-under, a figure matched by Sweden’s Alex Noren.

Englishman Andrew Johnston shot three-under, delighting local crowds by clinching his spot in what will be his U.S. tournament debut. The 27-year-old last month won his maiden European Tour title in Spain.

His compatriots Lee Slattery (six-under) and Matthew Baldwin (four-under) also qualified.

Ryder Cup hero Peter Hanson of Sweden put a couple of injury-hampered years behind him to earn qualification on three-under-par alongside Italy’s Matteo Manassero, still only 23 years old but now set for his fourth U.S. Open appearance.

A five-man playoff determined the last three qualifiers, with Germany’s Max Kieffer holing from the bunker on the first hole. Dane Soren Hansen qualified with a birdie at the second.

Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg claimed the last berth with a birdie on the fifth extra hole to earn his maiden major championship appearance.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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Home Pro Game News The Latest: French Open says schedule 'not catastrophic'>>>

SPORT DADDY NEWS TENNIS

PARIS (AP) The Latest on the French Open (all times local):

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5:10 p.m.

Tournament director Guy Forget says the washout of the French Open must spur action to get a roof built over the Philippe Chatrier showcourt.

Forget says the scheduling delays caused by the rain are ''problematic'' but ''not catastrophic'' because fourth-round matches will start earlier than initially planned and be spread over more courts.

Forget noted that Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam tennis venue without a roof and insisted that the situation cannot be allowed to continue.

The organizers hope for a roof by 2020. Forget spoke at a news conference as rain continued to fall.

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2:10 p.m.

It has been 16 years since weather last rained out a whole day of play at the French Open.

According to organizers, the last time was May 30, 2000.

The French weather bureau has issued storm warnings for the Paris region. Because there has been no play at all on Monday, ticket holders can apply for reimbursement.

Matches are being rescheduled for Tuesday.

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1:55 p.m.

French Open organizers have announced the cancellation of all matches at Roland Garros on Monday because rain is forecast to last all day.

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12:10 p.m.

The weather is not getting any better at the French Open.

Tarps are still on all courts as drizzle keeps falling steadily and the stadium announcer has just told spectators they will have to keep waiting.

He says no match will start before 1:00 p.m.

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11:20 a.m.

Rain has again delayed play at the French Open.

The rain covers remained on all courts on Monday morning and organizers said there will be no play until at least 12:00 p.m. local time because of showers over Paris.

Monday's forecast is grim with rain expected for most of the day.

Weather permitting, top-ranked Novak Djokovic will try to reach the quarterfinals for the 10th time against No.14-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut.

In the women's draw, both Williams sisters are set to be in action on Court Philippe Chatrier. Defending champion Serena will be up against 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina while Venus will be facing last year's semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky.

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