French tennis federation confident Roland Garros’ extension project will go ahead as planned

October 25th, 2009 Indoors European ski championships plannedSOELDEN, Austria — Organizers in Europe plan to take skiing indoors next month, when Olympic slalom champion Benjamin Raich will face French rival Jean-Baptiste Grange and other challengers in a new European championship. Organizers from Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy revealed plans Sunday to hold slalom races for men and women on an indoor slalom course in Amneville, France, on Nov.

July 7th, 2009 French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt dies PARIS — French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt has died. He was 24. The French tennis federation said on Tuesday that Montcourt had died overnight but that "the causes of his death are not yet known." "It is with great sadness that the French tennis federation has learned of the sudden death of Mathieu Montcourt," the French tennis federation said.

June 6th, 2009 PARIS - Svetlana Kuznetsova Saturday defeated Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-2 to win the French Open tennis, leaving the world number one still without a Grand Slam title. Kusnetsova, seeded seventh, added the Roland Garros honour to her US Open crown from 2004.

June 2nd, 2009 Safina survives 1st test at French, beats AzarenkaPARIS — Top-seeded Dinara Safina has overcome her first test at this year's French Open, coming back to beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the semifinals. Entering Tuesday, Safina had lost a total of five games through four entire matches at Roland Garros, the lowest total at any Grand Slam tournament since 1994.

June 1st, 2009 STOCKHOLM - Former Swedish tennis great Bjorn Borg Monday hailed compatriot Robin Soderling's upset against defending French Open champion Rafael Nadal. "If you can defeat Nadal on clay in Paris, you can beat anyone," Borg was quoted as telling the Expressen daily.

May 31st, 2009 Sharapova advances to French Open quarterfinalsPARIS — Maria Sharapova rallied again at the French Open on Sunday, moving into the quarterfinals by beating Li Na of China 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Sharapova is making her return to Grand Slam tennis after almost a year off with a right shoulder injury.

May 30th, 2009 Djokovic eliminated from French OpenPARIS — Novak Djokovic was eliminated from the French Open in the third round. The fourth-seeded Serb lost to No.

May 30th, 2009 Roddick reaches French 4th round for 1st timePARIS — Andy Roddick advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the first time in his career, beating Marc Gicquel of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday. The sixth-seeded Roddick is only the second American to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.

May 29th, 2009 SANTIAGO - World No 12 tennis player Fernando Gonzalez decided not to renew his Davis Cup contract with the Tennis Federation of Chile. In a letter to the federation, Gonzalez said he would not renew his contract that ends in August.

May 29th, 2009 Venus Williams loses in 3rd round of French OpenPARIS — Venus Williams lost in the third round of the French Open for the third straight year, falling to Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-0, 6-4 Friday. The third-seeded Williams was playing for the third straight day at Roland Garros.

May 29th, 2009 Ivanovic advances to 4th round at French OpenPARIS — Defending champion Ana Ivanovic made it through another easy match at the French Open, beating 32nd-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-2 Friday to advance to the fourth round. The eighth-seeded Ivanovic was taken to a tiebreaker in her opening match at Roland Garros, but she has lost only eight games since then.

May 28th, 2009 PARIS - Yuri Sharapov appears to have taken his informal leave from coaching, as his three-time Grand Slam champion daughter Maria Sharapova makes her comeback from injury at the French Open. "I think after I won my third Grand Slam, he said, 'Look, I like hiking and skiing a lot,' and he kind of wanted to pursue that," said Sharapova, playing in her second event since her nine-month shoulder rehab a few weeks ago.

May 28th, 2009 PARIS - India's Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy advanced to the doubles second round of French Open tennis with a 6-1, 6-3 win over France's Sebastien De Chaunac and Benoit Paire at Roland Garros here. Third-seeded Paes and Dlouhy outplayed their opponent in the first set, closing it out in just 20 minutes with three break of serves.

May 27th, 2009 PARIS - Madrid's new-found millions in government money, three new roofed, clay-court stadiums and dreams of becoming a fifth Grand Slam will be knocked back by the rival French Open, tournament boss Gilbert Ysern warned Tuesday. "Roland Garros is going to be a Grand Slam forever, and Madrid will never be a Grand Slam," Ysern said as he unveiled plans for a $168-million stadium to be built off the cramped site of Roland Garros.

May 24th, 2009 PARIS - No one has to tell Rafael Nadal that he's playing for history as he targets a record fifth consecutive French Open title. But the Spaniard cannot be worried by the weight of the record books and has come to Paris ready to just concentrate on his tennis in a special ambience.