American Star Pegula Pulls Out of French Open

Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
TT

American Star Pegula Pulls Out of French Open

Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

World number five Jessica Pegula announced her withdrawal from the French Open on Thursday, saying she had not yet sufficiently recovered from an injury.
"Unfortunately pulling out of @rolandgarros this year," the American posted on Instagram.
"I'm just about back to practicing normal (haven't had any issues for weeks) but played it super safe with recovery & return to play.
"If I had another 5-7 days I would have been there 100%."
Pegula, 30, has not played an official match since the Billie Jean King Cup in mid-April, said AFP.
She then withdrew from the Madrid Open after "hurting herself", without giving any further details on the nature of her injury.
She also missed the Rome Open, the last big clay-court tournament prior to Roland Garros.
Pegula, however, is confident she will soon return to competition.
"I will definitely be back for a full grass season and the rest of the summer and grinding out the rest of the year," she posted.
Last year, Pegula, 30, was eliminated in the third round of the French Open by Belgium's Elise Mertens.
Her best result at Roland Garros is a quarter-final appearance in 2022 when she lost to eventual winner Iga Swiatek.
The draw for the French Open, which begins at the weekend, takes place later on Thursday.



France Call up Olise again as Mbappe Rested for Nations League games

Soccer Football - Nations League - League A - Group 2 - France v Italy - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 6, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
Soccer Football - Nations League - League A - Group 2 - France v Italy - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 6, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
TT

France Call up Olise again as Mbappe Rested for Nations League games

Soccer Football - Nations League - League A - Group 2 - France v Italy - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 6, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo
Soccer Football - Nations League - League A - Group 2 - France v Italy - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - September 6, 2024 France's Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo

France have again called up Michael Olise as they prepare for this month's Nations League games against Israel and Belgium without Kylian Mbappe who has been struggling with injury.

The 22-year-old English-born midfielder won his first two caps against Italy and Belgium last month and in the absence of midfielder Antoine Griezmann, who announced his retirement from international football earlier this week, the Bayern Munich player was once more picked by Didier Deschamps on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Captain Mbappe, who picked up a muscle injury last month playing for Real Madrid in LaLiga, featured for 35 minutes in the club's 1-0 Champions League loss at Lille on Wednesday, but the forward was not deemed fit enough for international duty.

"He has a problem that is not serious. I'm not here to take risks, which is why Kylian isn't on the list," Deschamps told a press conference.

Chelsea striker Christopher Nkunku was also called up 15 months after claiming his last cap in a 1-0 win against Greece.

France are second in Group A2 with three points from two games, three points behind Italy. They face Israel in Budapest on Oct. 10 and Belgium in Brussels four days later.