The French Open kicked off Sunday at Roland Garros, with players meeting on the famous red clay courts for the second Grand Slam of the tennis season. The surface can be tricky, often leading to long rallies and the potential for thrilling upsets, as we’ve seen through the first two days of the tournament.

Ons Jabeur, for example, entered Roland Garros as a heavy favorite with a 17-3 record on clay, the best this season. In the first major shocker of the tournament, the No. 6-ranked player fell to Magda Linette Sunday. Barbora Krejčíková, another strong clay player and the reigning French Open champion, was upset the next day, losing in three sets to French teenager Diane Parry on Monday.

As the French Open continues, we run down the best women’s tennis players on clay still remaining in the field.

Iga Świątek

Iga Świątek is on a tear, riding a 28-match win streak into the French Open. The current world No. 1 looks unbeatable on any surface, but especially on clay, where she’s started the season 9-0. Świątek’s aggressive hitting from the baseline has helped her win five straight WTA titles, the latest coming in Rome. She easily handled first-round opponent Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0 on Monday to advance to the second round.

What makes Świątek particularly dangerous on clay is her ability to move with ease and slide on defense to keep her in points. With her forehand packing an even harder punch on clay, Świątek has all the tools to claim her second French Open title in Roland Garros.

WHEELS!!@iga_swiatek | #PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/KFEJ4XEmwH

— wta (@WTA) April 24, 2022

Simona Halep

Simona Halep has been deemed the queen of clay, winning the French Open in 2018. The Romanian star has the ability to stay in long rallies with her defense and ability to slide seamlessly, often shifting momentum in her favor.

The 30-year-old holds a 4-2 record on clay this season, with her best result a quarterfinal finish in Madrid.

Jabeur’s early exit opens the door for Halep, under new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, to test Świątek at the French Open. Halep begins her French Open campaign Tuesday against Nastasja Mariana Schunk.

a flick of the wrists 👏@Simona_Halep | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/we9MeTTz4A

— wta (@WTA) April 30, 2022

Paula Badosa

No. 3 Paula Badosa calls clay her favorite surface, where her aggressive baseline game puts opponents under pressure from start to finish.

“You all know that clay court is my favorite surface, but that also makes it tricky because maybe they think you are even more favorite and now they play better against you,” Badosa told WTA Insider.

The Spaniard has a 6-4 record on clay this season, including a semifinal run at Stuttgart in April. Badosa will look to improve upon last year’s quarterfinal appearance at the French Open as she seeks her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. She meets Fiona Ferro in the first round Tuesday.

SPEEDY hands 🥷@paulabadosa | #PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/DwMNVZmepb

— wta (@WTA) April 22, 2022

Aryna Sabalenka

No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka takes an impressive 7-4 clay record into Roland Garros, having made runs to both the Stuttgart finals and the Rome semifinals. Overall on clay, the 24-year-old has made the final in Stuttgart twice and won the Madrid Open.

Sabalenka’s dominance on the surface, however, hasn’t translated to Roland Garros. The Belarusian star has made the semifinals of every Grand Slam except the French Open.

Sabalenka begins her quest for her first major title against Chloé Paquet in the first round Tuesday.

Eyes on the prize, the final is set 🏎️
Enjoy the highlights of today!#porschetennis #PTGP22 pic.twitter.com/Qdxi4xUq79

— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 23, 2022

Amanda Anisimova

Amanda Anisimova’s best results have come on clay, including her first WTA title in Bogotá in 2019.

The American holds a 10-3 record on the surface this season, reaching the quarterfinals in Rome and Madrid and the semifinals in Charleston. The 20-year-old has also had success at Roland Garros, making a semifinal run at the Grand Slam in 2019.

Anisimova, the No. 27 seed, is already off to a roaring start, defeating Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-4 in the first round Monday and riding the momentum into her second-round matchup with Donna Vekic.

Missed this while you were 😴 ?

Amanda Anisimova pulled off a stunning straight-sets win againt Lepchenko at @CopaWTABogota ! pic.twitter.com/0tG1JBOvKP

— wta (@WTA) April 11, 2019

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.

The NCAA unanimously approved implementing a women's March Madness revenue-sharing plan on Wednesday, aligning the women's side with the compensation program the men’s edition has enjoyed since 1991.

"This is a historic day for women's sports, women's basketball, and the NCAA," said NCAA president Charlie Baker in the college sports governing body's statement. "Today's vote means our members have the opportunity to do even more on campus to promote and support female athletes. I can't wait to see all the incredible things they do."

Sparked by 2021's landmark NCAA gender equity review, the decision ultimately actualized after years of pressure from administrators and coaches.

"The long-awaited, hard fought for, and well-earned day is here," said UNC coach and Women's Basketball Coaches Association president Courtney Banghart. "I am so grateful for the effort of so many to bring this reality to our sport."

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Deep March Madness runs earn more revenue

Beginning this year, each team competing in the Division I tournament will now receive performance-based units of revenue, with deeper runs earning more units.

With plans to grow the prize pool to $25 million by 2028, this year's inaugural $15 million purse represents 26% of the competition's $65 million media rights valuation — putting it proportionally on par with the percentage allocated to the men's fund.

Distributions will begin in 2026 and, like the men’s program, they will be paid directly to conferences, whose member schools will collectively decide how to best invest the unrestricted funds.

For the 2025 edition, a unit will reportedly be worth $113,636. According to ESPN's calculations, a Final Four team could amass approximately $1.26 million for its conference over the next three years.

With conferences and schools set for an influx of funds should their teams flourish at the national tournament, the revenue plan becomes a significant incentive for institutions to further invest in women's basketball.

Ultimately, the NCAA's move not only addresses the sport's equity disparity, it could also bolster the annual tournament's level of competition.

Unrivaled basketball hits the court for the first time on Friday and, according to ESPN, the debut league's style of play will look a little different from the 3×3 Olympic game's rules.

Unlike the half-court version currently played in major international 3x3 basketball competitions, Unrivaled's full-court edition uses slightly smaller court dimensions from a traditional 5×5 setup.

Similarly, the inaugural league's format follows a four-quarter setup, but opts for seven-minute periods rather than the WNBA's 10-minute quarters. The shot clock will also be a speedier 18 seconds versus the professional 5×5 game's 24 seconds.

Unrivaled victories, however, rest solely in fourth-quarter play. This "winning score" quarter denotes that the win goes to the first team to score 11 more points than the highest final third-quarter score. For example, if a game's third quarter ends with a 45-43 scoreline, the first team to post the target score of 56 points in the final period walks away with the victory.

This system essentially eliminates the possibility of overtime. League organizers also hope it deters the late-game fouls used strategically and prolifically in 5×5 contests.

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Unrivaled 3×3 format revamps fouls

Speaking of fouls, Unrivaled is also condensing the free throw system to keep the game moving. Each player has six fouls to give, but each shooting foul will earn a single free throw at the line.

Those awarded free throws, however, will contain different point opportunities depending on the foul incurred. Fouled two-point shots grant a single free throw worth two points, while a free throw awarded from a three-point attempt will be worth three. All and-ones are worth one point.

With six players rostered on each of Unrivaled's six teams, the league also tweaked the traditional rule of fouling out to ensure games can be completed should they become especially chippy. If an athlete fouls out with only three available players left on their team, that player can continue competing. She will instead incur a technical foul — resulting in one opponent free throw — for each additional foul.

The new league's rules all point to Unrivaled's efforts to put an engaging, fast product on the court.

"This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top," Unrivaled president of basketball operations Luke Cooper told ESPN's Kendra Andrews on Tuesday. "There's flow, there's pace. When you are watching, it feels like you are watching basketball... it's not a gimmick."

The WNBA free agency carousel started spinning this week, with teams evaluating rosters and coring athletes to either retain talent or trade players for a return.

Thus far, cored players include Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, and Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams.

Squads employ single-use coring on WNBA stars

Each of the WNBA's teams can core one unrestricted free agent on their roster, ensuring them exclusive rights to that cored athlete. Cored players receive an offer for a one-year, supermax salary contract, along with the option to negotiate different terms.

Cored athletes are unable to directly sign with another franchise, but they can be part of a trade offer by their coring team.

New York cored Stewart after she expressed interest in remaining with her 2024 WNBA Championship-winning squad. Sabally, on the other hand, will likely be part of a sign-and-trade deal after telling media late last week that she is looking to leave Dallas in 2025.

Plum's situation with the Aces is less clear-cut: The two-time WNBA champion could re-sign with her team, though Las Vegas could be exploring opportunities to cash in should she want to compete elsewhere.

Other offers spark WNBA free agent negotiations

In addition to coring, WNBA teams have also begun sending qualifying offers to certain restricted free agents, allowing them to initiate negotiations with those players.

Most notably, despite making Monday offers to three players — guard Dana Evans, forward Michaela Onyenwere, and forward Nikolina Milić — Chicago has yet to extend a qualifying offer to the Sky's 2024 points-leader Chennedy Carter.

Ultimately, while negotiations kick off next week, WNBA contracts cannot be finalized until free agency revs up in February, meaning more shuffling is on deck as teams gear up for the longest and most competitive roster-building season in recent memory.