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Mbappe ‘Honored’ to Tour Father’s Native Cameroon

French international football star Kylian Mbappe waves as he continues his first visit to his father's homeland in Yaounde, Cameroon July 7, 2023. (Reuters)
French international football star Kylian Mbappe waves as he continues his first visit to his father's homeland in Yaounde, Cameroon July 7, 2023. (Reuters)
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Mbappe ‘Honored’ to Tour Father’s Native Cameroon

French international football star Kylian Mbappe waves as he continues his first visit to his father's homeland in Yaounde, Cameroon July 7, 2023. (Reuters)
French international football star Kylian Mbappe waves as he continues his first visit to his father's homeland in Yaounde, Cameroon July 7, 2023. (Reuters)

Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is touring his father's native Cameroon for the first time this week as doubts swirl over his future at the French club.

Excited fans gathered at the airport in the capital Yaounde, where the 24-year-old star touched down on Thursday for a three-day tour of the central African nation.

"It is an honor for me to be here, to be in the country of my origin, to be with my family and to see the people out there. They have shown me some love," Mbappe said on Friday after meeting Cameroon's Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.

He was lined up for a sporty afternoon, with a basketball match against former NBA player Joakim Noah before hitting the pitch for a soccer game against Cameroon's second-division team Vent d'Etoudi FC.

On Saturday, he will travel to the economic capital Douala and to the home village of his father Wilfried, a football coach who is also his agent.

The tour also includes visits to schools funded by Mbappe's "Inspired by KM" charity, one of which specializes in teaching children with impaired hearing.

"We are pushing hard for a bright future in Cameroon," he said, adding that he had more youth projects in the pipeline.

Mbappe, whose Algerian mother was a handball player, was born and raised in the northeastern suburbs of Paris.

There have been questions about his future at PSG since he told the club last month that he would not take up the option of a one-year extension on his contract when it expires next year.

PSG signed Mbappe from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal reported to be worth around 180 million euros ($196 million), making him the world's second-most expensive signing after Neymar, who joined them from Barcelona for 222 million euros.

If Mbappe sees out the remainder of his contract, PSG risk losing him for free at the end of the 2023-24 season. Club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi ruled out that option this week.

Mbappe evaded questions on the topic in Yaounde.

"Kylian is in Cameroon at the moment and that is the most important thing," he said. "I want to take the maximum opportunity of my holidays to enjoy with Cameroonians."

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Sinner to Play Alcaraz in China Open Final

Italy's Jannik Sinner hits a return to China's Bu Yunchaokete during their men's singles semi-final match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 1, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
Italy's Jannik Sinner hits a return to China's Bu Yunchaokete during their men's singles semi-final match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 1, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
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Sinner to Play Alcaraz in China Open Final

Italy's Jannik Sinner hits a return to China's Bu Yunchaokete during their men's singles semi-final match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 1, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
Italy's Jannik Sinner hits a return to China's Bu Yunchaokete during their men's singles semi-final match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 1, 2024. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will play rival Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the China Open after recording a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory over home favorite Bu Yunchaokete on Tuesday.
Sinner and Alcaraz accounted for all four Grand Slam titles this year between them. Alcaraz leads the head-to-head series 5-4 — including wins at both their meetings this year — but Sinner doesn't believe that recent history will have a bearing on Wednesday's final.
“We know each other very well now, but every match is different, so the situation on the court is also a bit different than it was the last two matches,” The Associated Press quoted Sinner as saying.
The 23-year-old Italian is the defending champion and hasn't appeared distracted by the World Anti-Doping Agency announcing Saturday it was seeking a ban of one to two years for the US Open champion, who tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March.
Chinese wild card Yunchaokete, ranked 96th, couldn't take any of his three break-point chances in the first set.
Sinner’s experience proved crucial during the pivotal moments, especially in the second-set tiebreaker, where he surged to a 6-1 lead.
Earlier, third-ranked Alcaraz's athleticism was again on show as he advanced to the final with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Daniil Medvedev.
“I felt great on the court once again, so I’m really happy about it,” Alcaraz said. “I couldn’t ask for a better semifinal.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion — including this year's French Open and Wimbledon — extended his head-to-head record against the Russian to 6-2.
The 21-year-old Spaniard found his way through a testing first set that had five breaks of serve, but crucially it was Alcaraz's third service break in the 12th game that secured the set.
Alcaraz has now won eight straight matches — across the Davis Cup, Laver Cup and in Beijing — since his loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round at the US Open.
Osaka out with back injury Coco Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals when Naomi Osaka retired at 3-6, 6-4 because of a lower back injury.
Osaka, a four-time major champion, was leading 4-3 in the second set before Gauff won three straight games.
The sixth-ranked Gauff then helped carry Osaka's bags off the court.
Gauff hit six aces compared to Osaka’s one and improved to 3-2 over her opponent at WTA tournaments.
She will next meet No. 115-ranked Yuliia Starodubtseva, who earlier upset No. 14 Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 6-0.
Paula Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula to reach her eighth career quarterfinal at a WTA 1000-level event.
“She’s one the of the players I never want to face — she’s very solid, hits very flat, changes very well direction,” said Badosa, who was 0-3 previously against Pegula. “I prepared myself for a battle, but I think today everything worked pretty well."
Badosa next faces 35-year-old Chinese player Zhang Shuai, who continued her resurgence with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Magdalena Frech of Poland.
Zhang entered the China Open on a 24-match losing streak and ranked No. 595, but she's yet to drop a set in four matches this week.
Zhang is now into her first women's tour quarterfinal since Tokyo in 2022, and her first at a WTA 1000 tournament since Cincinnati in the same year.
“In this draw, everyone has a higher ranking than me,” Zhang said. “Just step on court, just play. So I do not have much to think about, to prepare. I will just focus on myself.”
Japan Open Arthur Fils saved a championship point and rallied to beat Ugo Humbert 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the final of the Japan Open to earn his third tour-level title.
The championship point was in the second-set tiebreaker against his French compatriot.
The 20-year-old Fils struggled with an injury to his left leg for much of the second set and when trailing 4-3 in the second set — with three break points for his opponent — it looked almost certain that Humbert would go on to win his seventh final in seven appearances.
Fils defeated four top-20 opponents — US Open finalist Taylor Fritz, defending champion Ben Shelton, Holger Rune and Humbert — on his way to the title.