Mirra Andreeva thanked a fan for gifting her a “lucky charm” before her French Open third-round victory against Yulia Putintseva.
The Russian world number six had a small colourful fabric patch with floral patterns on her bench during her 6-3 6-1 win over Kazakh 32nd seed Putintseva.
“When I was walking on court a little girl put a drawing on my bench and I kept it. It’s my lucky charm,” the 18-year-old said.
“Wherever that little girl is, I want to thank her because it is my lucky charm.”
Andreeva is playing in her third French Open, having lost to Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals last year.
She is one of the in-form players in Paris, claiming titles at Indian Wells and the Dubai Open earlier this season.
She broke Putintseva’s serve three times in the first set and again for a 2-1 lead in the second before a brief rain delay.
After the players returned Putintseva briefly rallied to lead 3-2, but Andreeva won the next four games to cruise into the fourth round, where she will face good friend Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina, competing in her first Grand Slam since switching allegiance to Australia from Russia, beat Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-1 7-5.
Alcaraz’s form during his second-round win over Fabian Marozsan had been patchy and Friday’s first meeting at ATP Tour level against Dzumhur looked set to be a much smoother affair.
Having shrugged off two early break points, he reeled off five successive games to wrap up the opening set inside 30 minutes, with his opponent looking exasperated at times as he struggled to contain the man seen as the one to beat on the Paris clay this year.
The second set followed in much the same fashion, and while Dzumhur, 33, did have his chances with break points in the second and sixth games, he lacked the weapons to cause Alcaraz any concern.
A double fault sealed the two-set lead for the Spaniard, but then the errors started to creep into his own game in the third as Dzumhur found another gear on the other side of the net.
After a brief pause to receive treatment on a knee injury, the Bosnian – seeking to reach the fourth round of a Slam for the first time – finally got the break he had been fighting for.
Alcaraz wasted three immediate chances to break back at 4-3 down, and a further two as his opponent served out the set.
Dzumhur’s resurgence continued into the fourth as he broke the frustrated Spaniard at the first time of asking, and Alcaraz was forced to watch more break points of his own come and go unconverted.
But Dzumhur was only ever going to hold him off temporarily.
Alcaraz, starting to show glimpses of the clinical form on show in the opening two sets, won four successive games, and while he was broken back when serving for the match, he again broke Dzumhur to close the tie as the clock neared midnight in the French capital.
A Littler hold of throw as the break came at the right time for Littler – he’s won four of the five legs since!
That one sees him miss D12 for an 84 checkout but Price isn’t on a finish to punish, leaving Littler the chance to come back for D6 and takes it.
Luke Littler 7-7 Gerwyn Price*
Another BREAK of throw as Littler brings the match back level again!
He could’ve wrapped it up early, missing a dart at D16 for a superb 143 checkout. Price can’t take out 160, leaving Littler to come back for D16 and he takes it with his second dart.
Reminder, it’s first to 10. No margin for error from here.
*Luke Littler 6-7 Gerwyn Price
Ohh what a dart from Gerwyn Price to BREAK the Littler throw once more!
Price had a dart on the floor in his set-up too and Littler leaves 40 to put the pressure on the 86 Price did eventually leave.
Single 18, T18 leaves D7 and he finds it superbly!
Luke Littler 6-6 Gerwyn Price*
It looked a monumental leg and Littler BREAKS Price for it!
Back all-square as Price misses a dart at D10 for a 100 checkout, instead busting his score going into D15.
Price gets another go at it but can’t leave a finish this time as Littler misses a dart at tops this time. But he comes back for 20 and hits 10, D5 to bring us back level.
*Luke Littler 5-6 Gerwyn Price
Bloomin’ heck, he’s coming out swinging, Littler!
He misses a dart at D20 for a 10-dart hold of throw before pinning it next time for a good 11-dart leg.
That included a 180 and 147 set-up to leave 40. Maybe a sign of this second half….
Price leads at the break
Given Littler had the darts in leg one, Price will be absolutely thrilled to take a 6-4 lead into the break.
But in truth, it could and probably SHOULD be more comfortable.
Littler hasn’t got going yet and the frustration is etched across his face, even before storming off stage when Price took out the 40 in leg 10.
Price is leading the 180 count 3-1, more 140s, better checkout success and highest checkout!
£1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history’s biggest lottery prize
£1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline
£633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin
£625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017
£575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018
Earlier, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva beats Cristina Bucsa to advance – despite joking she did not like her early morning wake-up call.
The 18-year-old was first on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Tuesday morning, stepping out at 11:00 local time in Paris.
Playing her first Grand Slam as a top-10 seed, Andreeva recovered from a double break deficit in the first set to win 6-4 6-3.
“Honestly, it was very difficult,” Andreeva said.
“I’m not really happy because I don’t like to wake up early.”
Men’s world number 11 Daniil Medvedev has also complained about early starts and joked he may “boycott” morning matches.
However he did not fare as well as Andreeva, losing his morning match to Britain’s Cameron Norrie in a five-set epic.
Andreeva added: “I had to wake up at 6.40 and then I had 35 mins to pack my bags and do everything.
“Then 25 minutes to have breakfast, 30 minutes to come here and then I spent 11 minutes in the locker room and then we did the warm-up and went on court.
“It is very well planned.”
Andreeva, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, will face Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands next.
Having saved three early break points in a cagey opener, Sinner was gifted the first set in an error-strewn service game from 75th-ranked Rinderknech, a backhand planted into the net on Sinner’s first set point sending the Italian on his way.
He broke at the second time of asking in the fourth game of the second set and eased through its remainder, dropping just a solitary point on serve.
But his game temporarily crumbled in the third set as Rinderknech, buoyed by a partisan crowd in his home capital, won the opening four games to take a commanding lead.
Normality soon resumed however as Sinner fought back to cancel out Rinderknech’s break points, puncturing the atmosphere on the showcase court.
From there he barely gave his opponent another sniff of a chance. Piling the pressure on the Frenchman’s racquet, Sinner went a break up and sealed the match with a fierce serve Rinderknech, 29, could do little to match.
Sinner will play French veteran Richard Gasquet in the second round.
Former top 10 player Gasquet, 38, is playing the final tournament of his career at Roland Garros and beat compatriot and fellow wildcard Terence Atmane in his opening match.
Sinner won his third major title at the Australian Open in January but has yet to reach the final at Roland Garros, exiting in the semi-finals 12 months ago at the hands of eventual champion Alcaraz.
In February he accepted an immediate three-month ban after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) over his two positive drugs tests last year.
That suspension ended earlier in May, meaning he was able to compete at his home tournament in Rome – where he dropped just one set en-route to the final against Alcaraz – before travelling to Paris for the second major of the year.
Fearnley was ranked outside of the world’s top 500 just 12 months ago but the 23-year-old has risen rapidly up the rankings to a career-high of 55.
He will face either Christopher O’Connell of Australia or French 22nd seed Ugo Humbert in the second round.
After clinching the opening set via a tie-break, Fearnley broke early in the second and raced out to a 4-1 lead before serving the set out to love.
Wawrinka, who knocked Andy Murray out in the first round last year, dropped serve immediately in the third set but fought back to move level at 2-2 – much to the delight of the crowd on court 14.
However, their joy was short-lived as Fearnley quickly restored his lead and won four straight games to wrap up victory.
Fearnley has now won on his main draw debut at each of the three Grand Slams he has featured at so far – Wimbledon, the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
Venezuela’s ruling coalition, led by President Nicolas Maduro, has won the parliamentary and regional elections by a landslide, maintaining a significant majority in the powerful National Assembly, according to the country’s electoral authority.
Sunday’s legislative and gubernatorial elections were held as several opposition groups called for a boycott in response to what they described as fraudulent results of the July 2024 presidential vote. Maduro was declared the winner of the 2024 disputed vote.
Following the results, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) will continue to control key institutions, such as the attorney general’s office and the supreme court, as their members are chosen by the 285-member assembly.
Here is what you need to know about parliamentary and regional elections:
What were the official results of the 2025 regional and legislative elections?
Preliminary results released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday showed that the PSUV and its allies won 82.68 percent of the votes cast the previous day for seats in the National Assembly.
The ruling coalition also won 23 out of 24 state governor positions, the CNE said.
A coalition considered close to the ruling socialist party won 6.25 percent of the vote, while an opposition alliance won 5.17 percent, CNE rector Carlos Quintero said in a declaration broadcast on state television.
Maduro hailed the election results as a “victory of peace and stability” and said it “proved the power of Chavismo” – the left-wing, populist political movement founded by his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
A man casts his vote in Venezuela’s parliamentary elections, in Caracas, Venezuela, May 25, 2025 [Maxwell Briceno/Reuters]
What did voters elect?
The CNE oversaw Sunday’s election for 260 state legislators, 285 members of the unicameral National Assembly and all 24 governors, including the newly created governorship purportedly established to administer Essequibo, a region long under dispute between Venezuela and neighbouring Guyana.
Opposition candidates won the governorship of Cojedes state, a fall from the four they won in 2021.
Why election in Essequibo, a disputed region near Guyana, was controversial?
The Venezuelan government revised the electoral boundaries to elect a governor and eight representatives for the Essequibo, an oil-rich region that Caracas disputes with Guyana in a colonial-era dispute.
The vote took place in a micro-district of 21,403 voters in Venezuela’s Bolivar state, on the Guyanese border. Caracas had specially created it for Sunday’s legislative and regional elections. There were no polling stations in the 160,000sq km (61,776sq miles) territory of Essequibo, administered by Georgetown.
Guyana has administered the region for decades, but Caracas has threatened to partially annex it – a threat that Maduro repeated on Sunday. The Guyanese government, before the vote, warned that participating in Venezuela’s election could amount to treason.
The Maduro government last year passed a law creating a new state in the disputed territory, despite the ongoing case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The Venezuelan actions have come despite a 2023 court order asking Caracas to avoid any action that would change the status quo of the territory.
The Venezuelan government has said it does not recognise the court’s authority in the case.
How did the opposition respond to the results?
Opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado declared in a post on X late on Sunday that in some areas of the country, up to 85 percent of eligible voters snubbed the election, which she slammed as an “enormous farce that the regime is trying to stage to bury its defeat” in last year’s election.
Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognised by the United States and several other countries as the winner of the July 2024 presidential election, said, “We witnessed an event that attempted to disguise itself as an election, but failed to deceive the country or the world.”
“What the world saw today was an act of civic courage. A silent but powerful declaration that the desire for change, dignity, and a future remains intact,” he said in a post on X.
A priest blesses Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado during a rally against President Nicolas Maduro [File: Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo]
Meanwhile, another opposition faction, headed by two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and Zulia state Governor Manuel Rosales, urged people to vote to avoid the opposition being cut out of all governance.
Capriles was elected to the National Assembly, while Rosales lost his governor’s seat.
What was the voter turnout, and what factors influenced it?
Turnout in the elections was 8.9 million, or roughly 42 percent of 21 million voters eligible to cast their ballots, according to the CNE.
However, the country’s main opposition leaders had urged voters to boycott the election in protest over the July 2024 presidential election.
What are the implications of these elections for Venezuela’s political landscape?
The results are a big boost for Maduro who will further consolidate power as the ruling coalition now exercises almost complete control over the democratic institutions.
It will also demoralise the opposition, which has been in a disarray, with the executive secretary of the opposition’s Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Omar Barboza, stepping down in March. Barboza cited lack of unity as one of the reasons to quit his post weeks before the elections.
Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo, reporting from Argentina, noted that during the campaign, the opposition had been divided on the boycott call, making it difficult to present a more forceful challenge against Maduro.
She added that most analysts have said they “could not guarantee if the elections were free and fair”. “They denounced the lack of international observers, among other things,” she said.
What’s next for Maduro?
Maduro’s success in recent elections comes despite the decline of the economy following years of mismanagement and international sanctions.
US President Donald Trump has recently revoked permission for oil giant Chevron to continue pumping Venezuelan crude, potentially depriving Maduro’s administration of a vital economic lifeline.
Licence to Chevron was given in 2022 under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, after Maduro agreed to work with the opposition towards a democratic election.
Washington has also started to deport Venezuelan immigrants, many of them to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Last week, the US Supreme Court revoked the deportation protection for some 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants in the US.
THE draw for tonight’s National Lottery EuroMillions (May 23, 2025) has taken place, with life-changing cash prizes at stake.
Check the results to see if you have just won a fortune and bagged enough to start that jet-set lifestyle you always dreamed of.
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Have you got the winning EuroMillions ticket?
Every EuroMillions ticket also bags you an automatic entry into the UK Millionaire Maker, which guarantees at least one player will pocket £1million in every draw.
You can find out if you’re a winner by checking your ticket against tonight’s numbers below.
Tonight’s National Lottery EuroMillions winning numbers are: 10, 29, 43, 46, 49 and the Lucky Stars are: 07, 12.
The UK Millionaire Maker Selection winner is: MDQK77569.
Tonight’s National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are:04, 06, 12, 24, 30 and the Thunderball is 10.
TOP 5 BIGGEST LOTTERY WINS IN THE WORLD
£1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history’s biggest lottery prize
£1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline
£633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin
£625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017
£575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018
The first EuroMillions draw took place on February 7, 2004, by three organisations: France’s Française des Jeux, Loterías y Apuestas del Estado in Spain and the Camelot in the UK.
One of the UK’s biggest prizes was up for grabs on December, 4, 2020 with a whopping £175million EuroMillions jackpot, which would make a winner richer than Adele.
Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs in Scotland, netted a huge £161,653,000 in the July 12, 2011.
Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Haverhill, Suffolk, picked up £148,656,000 after they played the draw on August, 10, 2012, while Jane Park became Britain’s youngest lottery winner when she scooped up £1 million in 2013.
Could tonight’s jackpot of £169million see you handing in your notice and swapping the daily commute for slurping champagne on a super yacht or lying back on a private beach in the Bahamas?
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EuroMillions tickets come with an automatic entry into the UK Million Maker too
World number eight Aspinall has confounded critics who opposed his inclusion in the eight-man competition, having been ranked 11 when the picks were made.
His inclusion was questioned by fellow players Mike de Decker and Dave Chisnall amid suggestions his popular walk-on song Mr Brightside helped his case.
The Stockport-born player has battled online abuse over his participation, as well as recovering from injuries and dartitis to reach the final four.
“I came off social media because of the abuse I was getting,” said ‘The Asp’ after his second nightly win, in Aberdeen a week ago.
“I’m not being exaggerated here, but it ruined my life for a month, not just my life, my family’s. It was horrific. “
Aspinall has also come back from elbow, wrist and back injuries, along with tackling dartitis – a condition where players have a mental block when it comes to throwing on the stage.
Missing out on qualification seals a miserable campaign for Van Gerwen, whose last nightly win came back in April 2024.
The three-time world champion had seven victories and two runner-up spots from his previous 12 campaigns, with his last Premier League title in 2023.
“This is probably one of the hardest Premier Leagues I have ever played in – not in terms of players, but in terms of myself,” Van Gerwen admitted.
His cause was not helped when missing the ninth event of the season in Berlin with a shoulder injury sustained while trying to put a shirt on.
#18 Animo Robinson or #15 Valor Academy at #2 Van Nuys
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
OPEN DIVISION
QUARTERFINALS
#8 Banning at #1 Granada Hills
#5 El Camino Real at #4 Venice
#6 Birmingham at #3 Carson
#7 Kennedy at #2 San Pedro
Note: Divisions I-IV Quarterfinals Fri., May 23 at 3 p.m. at higher seeds; Semifinals (all divisions) Wed., May 28 at higher seeds; Finals May 30-31 at Birmingham (Divisions II-IV) and TBD (Open-Division II).
THE final day of the World’s Strongest Man 2025 is here!
British athlete Tom Stoltman is eyeing a FOURTH title in five years as he looks to go within one of equalling Mariusz Pudzianowski‘s astonishing record.
His older brother Luke is also competing in the finals alongside fellow Brits Paddy Haynes and Shane Flowers.
2023 Strongman winner Mitchell Hooper is one of the main contenders looking to take Stoltman’s crown.
