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Marathon man Djokovic beats Musetti in latest-ever finish at French Open

Marathon man Djokovic beats Musetti in latest-ever finish at French Open

Defending champion wins a four-and-half-hour epic to keep alive his hopes of winning a 25th Grand Slam title. Novak Djokovic’s bid for a 25th Grand Slam briefly hung by a thread on a cold and damp night at Roland Garros but the Serbian battled back for a 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over Lorenzo Musetti in the latest-ever French Open finish. The reigning champion showcased the iron will that has made him one of the game’s greatest players, to avoid defeat in a thrilling third-round contest, which got under way at 10:37pm local time (20:37 GMT) on Saturday. Some four-and-a-half hours later, at 3:06am (01:06 GMT) on Sunday morning, the fans who had huddled up under rugs as the 37-year-old orchestrated his superb fightback rose to their feet to lift the roof of the main show-court. “He played a fantastic match and came very close to victory,” Djokovic said on the court about Musetti. “I was in great difficulties but thanks to your support in the fourth set, I became a different player. It was perhaps the best match I have played here.” Djokovic recovered from an early loss of serve and went toe-to-toe with the Italian in the draining first set before edging in front with a crucial break in the 12th game, thanks to some incredible defending. The world number one lowered his head and gasped for air following that lengthy rally, but was soon in cruise control in the second set with a spectacular drop that gave him a 3-1 lead. Musetti, though, broke back and drew level at 4-4 before saving a set point in a high-quality tiebreak to level the match. The 30th seed took his game up a few notches to break and surge ahead in the third set, before sealing it comfortably as alarm bells began to ring for a fading Djokovic. Djokovic, who ranted about the state of the surface to the umpire, suddenly rediscovered his rhythm to wrap up the fourth before pulling away from his exhausted opponent in the decider. “Who’s going to sleep now?” Djokovic added. “It’s impossible to sleep, so much adrenaline. If you’re having a party, I’m coming.” The title defense is still alive 🙌#RolandGarros @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/iis8IUKCMI — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2024 Fourth seed Alexander Zverev also survived a scare in an evening marathon to move into the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3) victory over Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. In the women’s draw, second seed Aryna Sabalenka beat best friend Paula Badosa 7-5, 6-1 in a testing clash, while Russian-born Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva won plenty of new admirers after she kept the flag flying for her adopted country. After Corentin Moutet had given French supporters a Friday night to savour with victory over Sebastian Ofner, the new crowd favourite Gracheva lit up another soggy day with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu. The last Frenchwoman left in the women’s draw was treated to a rousing rendition of the national anthem, La Marseillaise, and she joined the fans in celebration. “I’ll remember this moment until the end of my life,” said a beaming Gracheva, who received her French passport in 2023 after living in the country for more than five years. “It means that everyone accepts me, that I’m home here.” While Gracheva was the centre of attention in the afternoon, fellow Moscow-born player Elena Rybakina continued to fly under the radar as the fourth seed cruised past Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-2. Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime, the 21st seed, closed out a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 victory over American Ben Shelton under the Suzanne Lenglen roof, as rain delayed action on the outer courts. When play resumed, Alex De Minaur completed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff to be the first Australian man into the Paris fourth round since Lleyton Hewitt in 2007, and launched a search for a superfan who spurred him on. Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa are close friends on the tennis circuit [Susan Mullane/USA Today Sports via Reuters] Adblock test (Why?)

Ron DeSantis touts Florida’s education system, slams ‘woke’ academia in Sarasota address

Ron DeSantis touts Florida’s education system, slams ‘woke’ academia in Sarasota address

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed an audience at Sarasota’s New College of Florida Saturday in a speech that touted the state’s educational accomplishments and reforms and bashed the “woke” stranglehold on academia. “In the last 5½ years, there’s been no state that has done more to reform and improve education. … We took on school choice. We made sure schools were open during COVID, battling school unions, all this stuff. So it was really, really good.” New College of Florida, the state’s liberal arts honors college, has been the site of a contentious power struggle between the previous school administration and the governor, which has seen DeSantis seek to remake the institution in the image of Michigan’s Hillsdale College.  In January 2023, DeSantis appointed a new slate of six board members, including outspoken activist and DEI and critical race theory critic Christopher Rufo. RON DESANTIS SHAKES UP LIBERAL UNIVERSITY, APPOINTS SIX MEMBERS TO THE NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA DeSantis praised the school makeover, arguing “it was so much about ideology. You know, no accountability, no grades, none of this other stuff. … This is a public institution. And we have, not only a right, we have an obligation to make sure that our public institutions are serving the best interests of the state of Florida.” The governor aimed his fire at using public resources for what he construes as ideological indoctrination. “If you want to go be on some Marxist commune, if that’s what you want to do with your life, who am I to say? But I don’t want the taxpayers of Florida funding that. So, we made some big changes. … What’s in the best interest of the state of Florida. And I think what you’ve seen, I don’t think you’ve seen more dramatic improvement at any other institution.” DeSantis argued the new vision for the school is akin to the educational philosophy of the nation’s great writers and thinkers at the dawn of American democracy. “The mission is, we want a liberal arts education that is rooted in the Western tradition — a classical education similar to what our Founding Fathers had when they went to universities. That is something that I think will attract people not just throughout Florida, but throughout the country.  “I think there are a lot of parents, especially with what you see going on in some of these other university campuses. … Now, the insanity in universities is not new, but … since [the Hamas attack on Israel on] Oct. 7,” people see “how insane this has become.” FLORIDA EDUCATION COMMISSIONER SAYS STATES NEED TO BE MORE ‘AGGRESSIVE’ WITH POLICY, GO BACK TO BASICS Referencing the nationwide campus protests over the war in Gaza, DeSantis contrasted Florida’s public education system with perceived Ivy League permissiveness and promised to deal with disruptions with a firm hand. “Letting the inmates run the asylum doesn’t work. So, you’ve seen a sickness in these universities. … I’ve talked to people who are very, very high up in finance and all these other things. But [with respect to education] you’re better off in Florida than Columbia or Harvard. … Now they’re saying that, people.” DeSantis has been a leading critic of left-wing bias on university campuses and has frequently butted heads with the state’s educational establishment. “What you’re seeing in academia is what happens when leftist ideology infects an institution. It corrupts the institution. … You know, the problem is, the left infects corporate America,” DeSantis said. “It corrupts when it infects academia. It corrupts when it infects the medical [establishment]. … When it affects corporate media, it corrupts. “Now you have the BLM riots — remember a few years ago? — and you have a reporter from CNN standing in front of buildings burning saying that it’s a mostly peaceful protest. So, the facts are totally out the window. It’s ideology.”  The governor then pivoted to the state’s pandemic policies, castigating the nation’s medical establishment for corruption and following a political agenda rather than science. “[During the pandemic], ideology had trumped evidence-based science. … There was an agenda, and they were playing on a team. And you saw the corruption in that. You saw … the mutilation of minors. That is not consistent with the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm, cut off somebody’s private parts who is 14 years old. … And not very many Western countries have indulged in this. Only here you see this … corruption of the medical establishment.” CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Finally, the governor credited Florida’s COVID policies with sparking a massive influx of people and investment in the state as blue state residents tired of bigger government, lockdowns and higher taxes. “Of course, we bucked the consensus on COVID. And, you know, Florida, when COVID started, we were doing well as a state. Most people would prefer to live in Florida than with the governments of California, New York, Illinois then, for sure. But the contrast with how we handled COVID versus them is it sparked a massive infusion of people, investment, businesses, unlike what really any state has ever seen.”

Trump’s criminal conviction is spurring big-dollar campaign contributions as son touts record 24-hour haul

Trump’s criminal conviction is spurring big-dollar campaign contributions as son touts record 24-hour haul

Former president Donald Trump’s criminal conviction is spurring high-dollar donors to flock to his side, with his campaign estimating that approximately $150 million will be raised in the coming days. Charlie Gasparino, a senior correspondent for the FOX Business Network and the Fox News Channel, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Post that a group of GOP billionaires and multimillionaires were waiting in the wings for the former president following his conviction for falsifying business records on Thursday. “We spoke for two hours,” one attendee told Gasparino. “Everyone explained the need for Trump to win given the dangerous direction of the country under Biden, and they said they were willing to do whatever to support him.” TRUMP TURNS CONVICTION INTO CASH, SPOTLIGHTS RECORD FUNDRAISING IN WAKE OF GUILTY VERDICT Many showed their support, according to Gasparino, pledging an astounding $30 million to Trump’s campaign on Thursday evening. The Trump campaign said that they believe an estimated $150 million will come in the coming days, Gasparino wrote. Following the 24-hour fundraising event, Trump’s son, Eric Trump, touted the $52.8 million raised on “Jesse Watters Primetime” Friday. “What’s really amazing, go back to 2016 for a second, the largest fundraising haul in history to that point, we did in one day, you know, $16 million,” Eric Trump told Watters. BIDEN URGES RESPECT FOR LEGAL SYSTEM AFTER TRUMP CONVICTION WHILE PUBLICLY FLOUTING SCOTUS RULINGS “And as of a couple of minutes ago, we just announced $52.8 million in 24 hours, and we’re probably another five, six million dollars above that, based on the fact that that was exactly 24 hours from the indictment time, which was about 5:30 [p.m.],” he continued. Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of the former president, the former president’s team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters. “Friend: Is this the end of America?,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asked in the email. “I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial. “My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!” Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a “political prisoner.” Meanwhile, Biden’s re-election campaign also quickly sent out fundraising appeals following the verdict. “Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,” the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.  And it urged that “if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, we’re here to tell you today is the day.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Pentagon mistakenly touts Pride Month in PTSD awareness post

Pentagon mistakenly touts Pride Month in PTSD awareness post

The Department of Defense (DoD) made an embarrassing error on social media on Saturday after it appeared the department mixed up Pride Month and PTSD Awareness Month. In an X post published on Saturday afternoon, the Pentagon explained that June marks PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) Awareness Month. The commemorative month was first recognized by the U.S. government in June 2014, a year before June also officially became Pride Month. “June is PTSD Awareness Month and the DoD is committed to supporting service members and veterans affected by PTSD,” the post read.  “If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available,” the DoD added. “You are not alone.” NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REVERSES BAN ON EMPLOYEES WEARING UNIFORMS AT PRIDE EVENTS FOLLOWING LGBTQ BACKLASH But the picture attached to the post read “Celebrate Pride Month 2024” with a Progress Pride Flag graphic. The tweet was later deleted and replaced with a PTSD Awareness Month graphic. The social media post was seen by a fraction of the department’s 6.5 million followers. After the tweet was redone, social media users taunted the department for making the error in the first place. “The internet is FOREVER,” one X user wrote. “I’ve got PTSD from having LQBTQ propaganda shoved in my face for the same month,” another said. NBC MARKS PRIDE MONTH WITH DOCUMENTARY ON ‘QUEER’ ANIMALS In March, the Biden administration also faced social media backlash for announcing the first federally-recognized Transgender Day of Visibility on the Sunday on which Easter fell. The holiday has been celebrated on March 31 since 2009, but Republican politicians criticized Biden for announcing the move on the most important Christian holiday. “Joe Biden has proclaimed Easter Sunday as ‘Transgender Day of Visibility,’” Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., wrote on X. “What a coincidence on the timing, right? This is a direct assault on Christianity. Yet another attack on religion and traditions by this administration.” Tennessee Republican Rep. Diana Harshbarger also interpreted the announcement as an attack against Christianity.  “This is a direct assault on Christianity. It’s evident the left is determined to undermine our religion and traditions,” Harshbarger wrote on X. “This isn’t just blatant disregard, it’s intentional.” Fox News Digital reached out to the DoD for comment, but officials did not reply in time for publication.