BOXER IMANE KHELIF DOMINANT AGAIN, INTO GOLD MEDAL BOUT

Imane Khelif beat Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand 5:0 in the semifinals to advance to the gold-medal bout and clinch at least a silver medal. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

PARIS -- Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria advanced to the gold medal bout in the women's welterweight division at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday night, moving one win away from what she calls the best response to the worldwide scrutiny she has faced over misconceptions about her gender.

With one more victory, Khelif would win Algeria's second boxing gold medal and its first in women's boxing.

Khelif defeated Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand 5-0 in the semifinals at Roland Garros, where the crowd roared and chanted her name throughout her three-round fight. Khelif has won three consecutive bouts in Paris, and she will win either a gold or a silver medal when she completes the tournament on Friday against Yang Liu of China.

Khelif has thrived inside the ring in Paris amid criticism and stigmatization outside of it. The trouble has stemmed from the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association's decision to disqualify her and fellow Paris medalist Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei from the world championships last year for allegedly failing an eligibility test.

The controversy has become one of the biggest stories of the Paris Olympics, but it isn't causing any negative effects on her performances in the ring.

"I don't care about that," Khelif said through an interpreter. "I wish to be ready and show a good standard, show my talent, because I want to entertain everyone."

Khelif had already clinched Algeria's first medal in women's boxing before she stepped into the ring to rousing roars at Court Philippe Chatrier. She controlled her bout with Suwannapheng, who took a standing eight count late in the third after absorbing a series of punches.

"I had heard about the news regarding her, but I wasn't following it closely," Suwannapheng said. "She is a woman, but she is very strong."

Khelif has won every round on every judge's card in her two fights that have gone the distance in Paris. She has made the most important tournament run of her international career amid criticism and stigmatization stemming from the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association's decision to disqualify her and fellow Paris medalist Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei from the world championships last year for allegedly failing an eligibility test.

"I am very happy," Khelif said. "I've worked eight years for these Olympics, and I'm very proud of this moment. I would like to thank the support from people back home."

The ending of Khelif's first bout in Paris propelled her into the center of a worldwide divide over gender identity and safety regulations in sports. Her first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, tearfully quit after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif's punches.

Carini's abandonment of the fight led to comments from the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump, "Harry Potter" writer J.K. Rowling and others falsely claiming Khelif was a man or transgender.

In an interview with SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press, Khelif said the wave of hateful scrutiny she is facing "harms human dignity" and called for an end to bullying athletes.

Khelif also said she felt the "best response" to the uproar around her would be to win a gold medal -- and now she's one win away from claiming it.

After sharing a hug with Suwannapheng, Khelif celebrated in the ring by running joyously in place while pumping her fists as the crowd roared for her again. The celebration was more joyous than her cathartic finish to her quarterfinal victory over Hungary's Anna Luca Hamori, when she slammed her palm on the canvas as she teared up.

Khelif received her post-fight medical check and was headed out of the Roland Garros arena when she was mobbed by fans near the exit. They hugged Khelif, demanded selfies and waved Algerian flags while she made her way backstage.

Khelif received cheers that echoed through the famed tennis arena from the moment she entered to face Suwannapheng. Roland Garros welcomed a prominent turnout from Algerian fans voicing their national pride in a boxer whose negative spotlight has been taken quite personally in her country.

Both fighters came out aggressively, trading punches from distance. Khelif was more accurate while winning the first round on all five cards, and she repeated the performance in the second.

The fight got more physical in the third, with Suwannapheng pushing forward to make a comeback. The bout was stopped for a standing eight count late in the third when Suwannapheng absorbed a few head punches in succession, although Suwannapheng appeared to shrug as if it wasn't necessary -- as is often the case in Olympic boxing, where referees can stop a bout for relatively minor reasons.

"I tried to use my speed, but my opponent was just too strong," Suwannapheng said.

Khelif, 25, is on the best run of her amateur career at the Olympics. She has performed solidly at the international level and even won some regional tournaments, but Khelif has never been a dominant fighter on the world stage until her two strong performances -- and 46 seconds of easy work against a third -- to reach the final in Paris.

The IOC and its president, Thomas Bach, have repeatedly defended the Olympic eligibility of Khelif and Lin while condemning the IBA as incompetent and biased.

Khelif and Lin were disqualified by the IBA in the middle of last year's world championships over what it claimed were failed eligibility tests for the women's competition. The IBA has been banished from the Olympics since before the Tokyo Games.

Lin also has clinched a medal and advanced to the Olympic semifinals. She fights Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey in the first bout Wednesday night at Roland Garros.

Algeria's Olympic team has reacted forcefully to the criticism and negative attention around Khelif, and the fan turnout in Roland Garros reflected the seriousness with which the accusations have been received in her home country and in its French diaspora.

Chinese Taipei has reacted with equal condemnation of the IBA's claims and the worldwide swirl of scrutiny. Sports officials on Tuesday said they are considering legal action against the IBA after sending a letter protesting "the International Boxing Association's continued publication of false information, obscuring the facts, and attempting to interfere with the normal conduct of the event regardless of the rights and interests of athletes."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

- ESPN News Services

COCO GAUFF WINS HER FIRST GRAND SLAM DOUBLES TITLE AT THE FRENCH OPEN

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 PARIS (AP) — Coco Gauff won her first Grand Slam doubles title by teaming with Katerina Siniakova for the French Open trophy on Sunday.

Gauff, a 20-year-old American who won the U.S. Open singles title last year, and Siniakova, who is from the Czech Republic, defeated Italians Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier.

It was Gauff's third women's doubles final after losing championship matches at Roland Garros in 2022 and the U.S. Open in 2021.

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Gauff and Siniakova both kissed the Coupe Simonne Mathieu — the winners' trophy.

“Third time’s a charm. Thank you, Katerina, for playing with me. We decided two days before the tournament to play together,” Gauff said. "Thank you to the fans. I know 11:30 Sunday morning is early for most people. It’s early for me.”

Paolini was also the runner-up in the singles final at Roland Garros to four-time champion Iga Swiatek on Saturday. Swiatek beat Gauff in the singles semifinal.

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“The last two weeks were very nice, very emotional,” Paolini said. “I have a lot of memories. I can’t wait to be back.”

Siniakova owns a career Slam in women's doubles alongside partner Barbora Krejcikova and has won eight majors — including the French Open in 2018 and 2021.

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Errani also owns a career Slam in doubles alongside her former partner Roberta Vinci. The Italian pair won the French Open title in 2012 — the year Errani lost the singles final.

“It’s really special to be in this court again. I don’t know how many more years I have to play. But it’s always special to play these kinds of matches,” the 37-year-old Errani said. “It will be special to play the Olympics here in this place. So I’ll see you in one month.”

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Paolini was playing in her first final in women's doubles.

Errani’s serve was broken twice in the first set, and Paolini stayed on the baseline to compensate in the 11th game. The tactic worked as Errani held serve.

Gauff and Siniakova took the first set when Errani’s volley at the net went long and raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set, with Paolini 0-30 down on her serve.

The Italians fought back to 4-3 with a service game to follow, but Errani’s serve was broken again and their momentum was lost. ___

- JEROME PUGMIRE

NO MARATHONS, AS SWIATEK,GAUFF SPRINT FRENCH OPEN QUARTERFINALS, ALCARAZ, TSITSIPAS ALSO WIN

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 PARIS (AP) — After the French Open marathon came the sprints.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek swept into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in just 40 minutes after a crushing 6-0, 6-0 win against Anastasia Potapova.

U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff took only 60 minutes to rout unseeded Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-2.

The 20-year-old American looked set for an even quicker victory when she led 5-0, but Cocciaretto fought back, getting a hearty cheer from the crowd after winning the next game.

Swiatek won 48-10 in points without even facing a game point against her. The match ended when Potapova hit a forehand into the net on the first match point.

“I was just really focused and in the zone," Swiatek said. "It went pretty quickly, pretty weird.”

Their match started at around 11 a.m. on Court Philippe Chatrier.

That's just eight hours after men's defending champion Novak Djokovic finished his five-set, 4 1/2-hour marathon against Lorenzo Musetti at just after 3 a.m. in the latest finish in tournament history.

Swiatek said late finishes don't just end with the match and are not healthy.

“Usually it takes us, like, four hours to even chill, and you need to do recovery, media. It’s not like the work ends when the match point,” she said. “I was always one of the players that said that we should start a little bit earlier.”

Gauff thinks the issue needs addressing.

“It’s a complicated thing," she said. "But I definitely think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing, or starting, after a certain time."

Gauff says there’s also a fine balance to be struck.

“Obviously I don’t want to complain too much about it because we are very blessed and privileged to be playing for a lot of money. There’s people working real jobs under worse conditions for less money and just trying to get by," she said. “It’s just tough for me knowing where some of my family come from and where things are, and I think about the people hearing this. Yes, if I was a person working, I would be upset to hear, you know, players complain.”

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Potapova attributed her crushing defeat to the constant rain delays in recent days sapping her energy.

“Unfortunately in the last couple of days I started feeling not well, eating not well. Last night I did not get an hour of sleep. It’s very tough to be honest. Especially when you want to play good you have to try to keep everything inside," she said. "But unfortunately if you keep it inside it doesn’t go away, it just keeps growing. The stress inside my body kept growing and unfortunately today was the day when it exploded.”

Saturday didn’t help much.

“Yesterday I spent all day on site because I had doubles. We came at 9:00 (a.m.) and at 7:00 pm it got (postponed). I spent all day here without hitting a ball," she said. "That’s not the preparation for the fourth round of a grand slam against the world number one.”

Swiatek remains on course for her third consecutive French Open title and fourth overall. The top-ranked Pole plays Wimbleon champion Marketa Vondrousova after the fifth-seeded Czech beat unseeded Serb Olga Danilovic 6-4, 6-2.

Gauff faces No. 8-seeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who advanced to her second straight French Open quarterfinal after beating unseeded Dane Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-4.

In men's fourth-round play, two-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz and 2021 French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to set up a quarterfinal showdown.

The third-seeded Alcaraz beat No. 21-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Auger-Aliassime appeared to struggle with his left leg and called a trainer at the changeover at 3-2 down in the second set, then left the court for a medical timeout.

Tsitsipas beat unseeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2 and the ninth-seeded Greek celebrated enthusiastically with the Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd.

“Now me and the crowd are on this, so it felt amazing,” said Tsitsipas, who saved a set point at 5-4 down in the second set. “I felt there was power within me to turn this game around.”

What about playing Alcaraz?

“He has said in the past that he likes to play against me,” Tsitsipas said. “I hope he likes it a little bit less.”

Later Sunday, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner faced Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

- JEROME PUGMIRE

IGA SWIATEK SAVES MATCH POINT, BEATS NAOMI OSAKA AT FRENCH OPEN

Iga Swiatek celebrates after defeating Naomi Osaka in a match during which she saved a match point and won the last five games in the third set. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

 PARIS -- Iga Swiatek played like the current No. 1 and the two-time defending champion at the French Open. No surprise there. That Naomi Osaka looked like the former No. 1 that she is -- and on clay, no less -- amounted to an announcement that she is still quite capable of elite tennis.

Surging down the stretch as Osaka faded, Swiatek saved a match point and grabbed the last five games to sneak her way to a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 victory in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday night in a thrill-a-minute contest befitting two women who both own four Grand Slam titles.

"For sure, this match was really intense. Much more intense for the second round than I ever expected. For sure, I'll be more ready next time," Swiatek said. "Naomi played amazing tennis. ... I'm happy that she's back and she's playing well."

For Swiatek, this extended her Roland Garros winning streak to 16 matches as she pursues a third consecutive trophy at the clay-court major. For Osaka, who cried when she left the court after letting a 5-2 lead in the concluding set slip away, this amounted to a return to her big-hitting best.

"I cried when I got off the court, but then, you know, for me, I kind of realize I was watching Iga, like, win this tournament last year, and I was pregnant. It was just my dream to be able to play her," Osaka said.

"When I kind of think of it like that, I think I'm doing pretty well. And I'm also just trying not to be too hard on myself. I feel like I played her on her better surface. I'm a hard-court kid, so I would love to play her on my surface and see what happens."

They went back-and-forth for nearly three hours as rain loudly pelted the outside of the closed roof at Court Philippe Chatrier -- showers forced the postponements of 23 singles matches until Thursday -- and a riveted, if hardly full, crowd alternated their support between the two players. Sometimes, spectators called out before a point was done, prompting admonishment from chair umpire Aurélie Tourte during the match. And from Swiatek afterward.

"Sometimes, under a lot of pressure, when you scream something during the rally or right before the return, it's really, really hard to be focused," Swiatek said. "The stakes are big and there is a lot of money here to win. So losing a few points may change a lot. So please, guys, if you can support us between the rallies but not during, that would be really, really amazing."

Osaka served for the victory at 5-3 in the final set, and was a point away from winning, but she put a backhand into the net. Soon, when Osaka missed another backhand, this one long, Swiatek finally converted a break point on her 10th chance of that set, and they played on.

Maybe the lack of high-level matches caught up to Osaka, because her mistakes continued to mount, including a double fault that put Swiatek in control 6-5. Swiatek, who has led the WTA rankings for nearly every week since April 2022, then held serve one last time.

Still, this was, without a doubt, Osaka's top performance since she returned to the tour in January after 15 months away while becoming a mother. (Her daughter, who is 10 months old now, accompanied Osaka to Paris and recently started walking.)

Indeed, it's been a few years since Osaka played this capably and confidently, hammering big serves at up to 122 mph and imposing groundstrokes. Her quick-strike capabilities were on full display: Osaka won 82 of the 139 points (59%) that lasted four strokes or fewer, and she finished with a 54-37 advantage in total winners.

All of those familiar mannerisms were back, too. She turned her back to Swiatek to reset between points, hopped in place, tugged at her pink visor's brim and slapped her palm on her thigh. Osaka celebrated points by shaking a clenched fist and shouting "Come on!"

She grabbed nine of 10 games to dominate the second set and led 3-0 in the third. Then 4-1. Then 5-2.

As one ball or another would fly past Swiatek, zipped near a corner or right at a line, she turned toward her guest box and shot a look of confusion or concern in the direction of her coach and her sports psychologist.

"I felt for most of the match that I wasn't really [in the] here and now," Swiatek said. "My mind was, like, playing around sometimes."

She's not used to this sort of one-way traffic coming head-on in her direction. Normally, it's Swiatek who is delivering lopsided sets at a foe's expense, especially on clay. She now has won her past 14 matches this month, with titles on the surface at Madrid and Rome -- a clay double no woman had done since Serena Williams in 2013.

But this marked a sudden return to the Osaka everyone came to expect, match in and match out, back when she was at the height of her powers, climbing atop the rankings and gathering two trophies apiece at the U.S. Open and Australian Open from late 2018 to early 2021.

It was in May 2021 that Osaka withdrew from the French Open before her second-round match, explaining that she experiences "huge waves of anxiety" before speaking to the media and revealing she had dealt with depression. She took time away from the tour for a mental health break, then opted for another hiatus after her title defense at the U.S. Open a few months later ended with a third-round loss.

She helped usher in a change in the way athletes, sports fans and society at large understood the importance of mental health -- and prompted those in charge of various sports, including tennis, to take the issue seriously and try to accommodate and protect them better.

Osaka entered with an 0-4 record on the red stuff against opponents ranked in the top 10 and never has been past the third round at Roland Garros. This also would have been her first win anywhere against a top-10 opponent since January 2020.

Instead, though, it is Swiatek who moves on and continues her bid to become the first woman with three championships in a row in Paris since Justine Henin in 2007-09.

Coco Gauff, meanwhile, rolled past Tamara Zidansek 6-3, 6-4 in the second round Wednesday, harnessing her mighty forehand in front of a crowd squarely on her side.

The US Open winner sent over nearly two dozen winners and overcame issues with her serve, including six double faults, to set up a meeting with the winner of a match between Wang Yafan and Dayana Yastremska.

Other winners on the women's side Wednesday included Sofia Kenin, the champion at the Australian Open in 2020 and runner-up at the French Open later that year, and Ons Jabeur.

Kenin arrived at the French Open with just a 4-13 record this season and now is into the third round at Roland Garros after eliminating 21st-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 6-3, 6-3.

Jabeur advanced to the third round by defeating Camila Osorio 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

ESPN's D'Arcy Maine, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

- ESPN News Services