The weekend began on Saturday with the masterful performance of Gaël Monfils, who qualified for the round of 16 of the Australian Open at age 38. Then was marked by the surprise announcement of the retirement at the end of the season of Norwegian biathlon star Johannes Boe. On the Rugby pitches, the Champions Cup delivered its verdict with a total of six French clubs qualified in the eighth. When on the Football pitch, PSG has consolidated its leadership position. Franceinfo: sport summarizes the weekend's sports news for you.
Australian Open: Monfils lets experience speak, Djokovic and Alcaraz make an appointment
Like wine, does Gaël Monfils improve with age? The Habs created a surprise by qualifying for the eighth on Saturday, taking out world number 4 Taylor Fritz – his first victory over a top 10 in more than a decade. For a place in the quarterfinals, he faces Ben Shelton on Monday. In the eighth, French number 1 Ugo Humbert was unable to compete with world number 3 Alexander Zverev. He lost in four sets (6-1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3).
On the favorites side, world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka quietly continues her journey (6-1, 6-2 against Russian Miraa Andreeva in the round of 16), Coco Gauff dropped a set but qualified for the quarters. Among the men, a first shock is expected for the quarters: Carlos Alcaraz will have to erase the king of Melbourne (ten coronations), Novak Djokovic, to experience his first Australian semi-final. Alexander Zverev will find Tommy Paul.
Rugby: almost full box for French clubs in the Champions Cup
With the Champions Cup group stage coming to an end, it is time to take stock. The eight French clubs involved almost achieved a flawless performance: six of them qualified for the round of 16. If Toulon, UBB and Toulouse had already punched their ticket, Clermont also won their ticket on Saturday, winning down to the wire against Bristol (33-26).
Despite a defeat in Treviso (Italy), the Rochelais will also see the eighth, just like Castres qualified thanks to the defeat of Stade français, eliminated from the competition. Note the demonstration of Toulouse at home which corrected the English of Leicester 80-12, and that of the Bordelais against the South Africans of the Sharks (66-12). The UBB, on the other hand, had to deal without Louis Bielle-Biarrey, package due to “dizziness”. The French international will also miss the first gathering of the French XV ahead of the Six Nations Tournament.
For its part, with its victory against the South African Stormers (31-22), Racing 92 did not have its destiny in its hands. And by winning at home against Toulon (33-6), the Sale players condemned the Racingmen, who were sent to the round of 16 of the Challenge Cup.
-Football: PSG still undefeated, the right operation for Lille
Four days before its European meeting, against Manchester City, PSG won (2-1) without convincing at the Bollaert stadium in Lens. Trailing by a goal at the break, the Parisians can thank Bradley Barcola, first decisive passer then scorer. If they are still undefeated in Ligue 1, the capital's players will have to show a different face if they want to continue their path in the Champions League.
The Marseille runner-up was slowed down by the valiant Strasbourg side (1-1) who opened the scoring. OM owed the draw to a foul in the area, which allowed Mason Greenwood to score his 12th goal of the season on a penalty. Another draw (1-1), Saint-Etienne and Nantes neutralized each other in a duel of the poorly classified. The good operation of the weekend is to the credit of Lille, which gained two places in the ranking thanks to its victory against Nice (2-1), which lost one place (5th).
Biathlon: the Blues still there, Boe’s next farewell
The Blues continue their harvest of podiums in the Biathlon World Cup, with a new stage in Germany, in Ruhpolding. Well launched by the first place of Lou Jeanmonnot and the second of Emilien Claude on the individual in the middle of the week, the Blues continued on Saturday: the French collective signed a third consecutive victory on the relay, when the girls took the third place. On Sunday, Jeanne Richard completed the job by securing her first podium in the World Cup, with a fine third place in the mass start.
For his part, the leader of the general men's classification, the Norwegian Johannes Boe, surprised everyone on Saturday by announcing his upcoming retirement. While he had planned to continue until the Milan Olympic Games in 2026, he chose to call it quits at the end of the season, to devote himself to his family life.
Handball: without forcing, the Blues join the main round of the World Cup
A successful first warm-up round. The French handball players concluded the preliminary phase of the World Cup on Saturday evening in Croatia with a victory over Austria (35-27). Previously, they had already beaten Qatar (37-19) then Kuwait (43-19). Matches to build confidence after the Olympic fiasco, but the level will get tougher in the main round. Guillaume Gille's players have an appointment with Hungary (Tuesday), the Netherlands (Thursday) and North Macedonia (Saturday). Theywill have to finish among the first two (out of six) in their group to see the final phase. Black point on the board: goalkeeper Samir Bellahcene withdrew from the rest of the tournament, after being injured on Friday in training.
