In an evening that looked like fireworks, Fabien Galthié’s team crushed Japan on Saturday, November 9, for their return to the Stade de France, while in Angers, PSG easily got rid of SCO, in a Ligue 1 weekend marked by the return of the Lyonnais. -Saint Etienne derby, won by Les Gones. You had to be in Riyadh to find more suspense with the WTA Masters final won in the tie-break of the third and final set by Coco Gauff.
Rugby: winning return for the French XV with a great Antoine Dupont
The Blues got their fall tour off to a perfect start on Saturday, November 9, by crushing Japan 52-12 at the Stade de France, the stadium they returned to a year after their cruel defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup. Fabien Galthié’s men made a perfect copy, with eight tries, including two doubles from Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Paul Boudehent.
This large victory is also not unrelated to the return of captain Antoine Dupont, after spending the summer with the French rugby sevens team which won gold at the Paris Games. Full of confidence a week before facing New Zealand in a shock which will serve as the first real test of the season. Blacks who won in Ireland (23-13), a week after a narrow success against England at Twickenham (24-22).
In the other matches of the weekend, the sensation came from Fiji, winners of Wales (24-19), a first since 2007. The Islanders were also the first to experience the 20-minute red card, a few hours before Scotland, beaten by South Africa (32-15).
Ligue 1: Lyon celebrates the return of the derby, mixed fortunes for Paris and Marseille
It’s been almost three years since French football awaited the return of one of its most historic derbies. Winner of four of the previous five, with one draw, OL continued to display their regional domination against Saint-Etienne by controlling a match to ultimately win only 1-0. Lyon is now 5th in the championship. ASSE, 16th, is virtually a barrage.
A derby closed an 11th day that began Friday with the scathing 3-1 defeat against Auxerre for OM who continue to show enthusiasm at the Vélodrome. Monaco took advantage of this on Saturday to snatch second place from the Olympians with a 3-1 victory forged at the end of the match in Strasbourg.
Lille also almost took advantage of Marseille’s setback to get on the podium, but conceded the equalizer in the last action of their match against Nice on Sunday (2-2). In the lead, PSG sailed on Saturday against Angers, scoring four goals in the first period to ensure a success without trembling (4-2). Paris is six points ahead of Monaco and nine ahead of Marseille.
Vendée Globe: the adventure begins for the 40 skippers
They left this Sunday at 1:02 p.m. sharp and no one can know exactly when they will return. The 40 skippers, a record, entered in the Vendée Globe have embarked on this demanding solo, non-stop round the world trip. The record of 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds established by Armel Le Cléac’h could well be beaten during this edition with increasingly efficient IMOCAs.
The big start of the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe is given
It was at 1:02 p.m., as planned, that the grand start of the Vendée Globe 2024-2025, the tenth of the name, took place. In total, 40 skippers, on IMOCA with or without foils, were dismissed by the race management. A solo, non-stop and unassisted world tour opens up to them.
Tennis: Coco Gauff queen of the WTA Masters
A victory at the end of the suspense. The American Coco Gauff won the end-of-year WTA Masters on Saturday, November 9, in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the tournament bringing together the eight best players in the world of the season. At the end of a fight lasting more than three hours (3h04), the world number 3 beat the Chinese Qinwen Zheng (n°7) in three sets (3-6, 6-4, 7-6). At 20 years and seven months, the winner of the 2023 US Open becomes the youngest winner of the tournament since Maria Sharapova in 2004. To win her first title in this tournament, the American beat the world No. 2 and champion of the Iga title. Swiatek in the groups and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final.
The men’s edition of the Masters has just started in Turin. Taylor Fritz against a failing Daniil Medvedev (6-4, 6-3) and Jannik Sinner against Alex de Minaur (6-3, 6-4), who has never beaten him in eight confrontations now, won without trembling. For the first time since 2001, neither Roger Federer, nor Novak Djokovic, nor Rafael Nadal are participating in this tournament, the 2024 edition of which appears less competitive than the previous ones.
Basketball: the Blues continue their flawless performance and have one foot and four toes at the EURO
In the Rimi Olympic Center in Riga and its capacity of less than a thousand spectators, the French team did the job on Sunday by largely winning 82-51. As against Israel three days earlier (94-52), Jean-Aimé Toupane was able to continue his squad revision by calling on twelve different players.
With four big victories in as many matches in these qualifications for the European Championship, the Olympic vice-champions are almost guaranteed to be there in June 2025. The Tricolores will meet again in February to win their ticket at home against Ireland.
