Sport is gradually regaining its rights after the end-of-year holiday period. The Champions Trophy in Qatar, the start of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, or even Victor Wembanyama who is celebrating his 100th in the NBA: this first weekend of January offered the first lessons of the year 2025.
Football: Paris wins the Champions Trophy
They got their hands on the Champions Trophy. The Parisians won this title for the eleventh time in twelve seasons, since 2013, thanks to their victory at the end of the match against Monaco (1-0), Sunday in Doha (Qatar). Monegasque goalkeeper Philipp Köhn had however pushed back the deadline with nine saves during the game, but his defense abandoned him in added time, which Ousmane Dembélé took advantage of to score the victorious goal (90th + 2).
Meanwhile, in Ligue 1, Marseille largely won against Le Havre (5-1) at the Vélodrome stadium to take second place alone. And in the race for Europe, Lille was held back by Nantes (1-1), Lens was beaten by Toulouse (1-0), Lyon narrowly won against Montpellier (1-0) and Nice dominated Rennes (3-2) despite the entry into play of the Breton recruit, Seko Fofana.
Dakar: Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit misses victory, a 48-hour stage on the program
The 2025 edition of the Dakar kicked off on Friday January 3. Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit and his French co-driver Alex Winocq (X-Raid Mini) were announced winners of the first stage on Saturday, but it was ultimately Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (Toyota Gazoo Racing) who took first place. The latter, who were forced to stop due to an accident, made up time.
Sébastien Loeb (Dacia Sandriders) took 24th place in the stage, more than 11 minutes behind the winners. The French driver explained that he had deliberately lost time so as not to start in the first positions during the second stage, a stage of 48 hours and 1,058 km without assistance between Sunday and Monday, in order to “to avoid having to open the road”. Unfortunately for the Alsatian driver, fan problems forced him to stop several times on Sunday during the first part of the stage in 48 hours, the damage to the ranking will be measured on Monday.
On the motorcycle side, Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM) won, but the bad operation went to the Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda), who fell over a bush after 15 kilometers of special, which caused him wasted almost fifteen minutes.
Tennis: Alexandre Müller wins his first title on the ATP circuit
He lifted his first ATP trophy. The Frenchman Alexandre Müller won his first ATP 250 tournament on Sunday, in Hong Kong, against the Japanese Kei Nishikori in three sets (2-6, 6-1, 6-3). The Habs even entered the statistics books by becoming “the second player since the creation of the ATP Tour (1990) to win a title, after conceding the first set in all his matches (after Alexander Bublik in Montpellier last year)”, analyzed the game, set and math statistics account.
After his lost final in Marrakech (ATP 250) in 2023, Alexandre Müller finally holds his first title on the ATP circuit, and what's more on hard court, he who has won eight of his ten titles (Challengers and Futures) on clay. Another Frenchman also showed up this weekend: Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard had a great tournament in Brisbane (ATP 250) but had to lose in the semi-final against the giant Reilly Opelka (2.11m).
Basketball: Wembanyama, roaring hundredth
Friday night, Victor Wembanyama played his 100th game in the NBA. The Frenchman, just 21 years old (he had them on Saturday), was not missed, with the victory against the Denver Nuggets of triple MVP Nikola Jokic, to which he added 35 points and 18 rebounds, before losing the revenge the day after. The Spurs' interior continues to progress at high speed: at this point, he has scored more points than LeBron James, made more three-pointers than Stephen Curry, and made more blocks than Shaquille O'Neal.
Well placed to participate in its first All-Star Game in February, the Habs can above all boast a much better collective record for its second year. Also thanks to the arrival of leader Chris Paul, the Spurs are currently in the right position to play in the playoffs or the play-in at the end of the season.
