Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
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Take Two! Naples Gears up Again for Huge Title Party

Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Serie A - Napoli v Salernitana - Naples, Italy - April 30, 2023 General view of a Napoli banner hung from an apartment building before the match. (Reuters)

Napoli will open up the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Thursday night for a live screening of their away game with Udinese when they hope to clinch the league title, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Napoli also expect as many as 10,000 fans to make the long trek to northeast Italy for a match when a point will be enough to claim their first league title since Maradona was in his pomp in 1990.

Extra police will be on duty in Udine for the game, with Napoli supporters taking up around half of the capacity of the Stadio Friuli.

The result may even be academic: Napoli could be crowned champions the previous night if Lazio fail to win their Wednesday home match with Sassuolo. Lazio, who are in second spot, trail Napoli by 18 points with six games to play.

Hundreds of thousands of Napoli fans had flooded into the center of the southern Italian port city on Sunday expecting their team to beat local rivals Salernitana and secure the Serie A championship for only the third time in their history.

But a late equalizer by the visitors put one of the largest street parties Italy has seen in years on hold for a few days.



Coco Gauff Says her Mom’s Advice in Riyadh Helped her Win French Open

Coco Gauff of the US kisses the trophy after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Coco Gauff of the US kisses the trophy after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
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Coco Gauff Says her Mom’s Advice in Riyadh Helped her Win French Open

Coco Gauff of the US kisses the trophy after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Coco Gauff of the US kisses the trophy after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.

Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 US Open, Reuters reported.

She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.

"It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there's a lot going on in our country right now with things -- like, everything, yeah. I'm sure you guys know," she said, smiling but without elaborating further.

"But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people."

"I remember after the (US presidential) election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) 'just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for'.

"So that's what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).

"Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I'm definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I'm proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support."