The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has been held every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the Second World War. The reigning champions are Argentina, who won their third title at the 2022 tournament.
The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World champions of the sport.
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the second time in the history of the tournament, defeating Morocco in the bidding process. It was the ninth time that it was held in Europe. Spanning 32 days, it was the longest World Cup tournament ever held.
The French Open, also known as Roland-Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and venue are named after the French aviator Roland Garros. The French Open is the premier clay court championship in the world and the only Grand Slam tournament currently held on this surface. It is chronologically the second of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments, occurring after the Australian Open and before Wimbledon and the US Open. Until 1975, the French Open was the only major tournament not played on grass. Between the seven rounds needed for a championship, the clay surface characteristics, and the best-of-five-set men's singles matches, the French Open is widely regarded as the most physically demanding tournament in tennis.
The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year. In doubles, a Grand Slam may be achieved as a team or as an individual with different partners. Winning all four major championships consecutively but not within the same calendar year is referred to as a "non-calendar-year Grand Slam", while winning the four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a "Career Grand Slam".
Amélie Simone Mauresmo is a French former world No. 1 tennis player and tournament director. Mauresmo won two major singles titles at the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships, and also won the silver medal in singles at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the singles title at the 2005 year-end championships.
The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contested by UEFA members' senior men's national teams, determining the continental champion of Europe. It is the second-most watched football tournament in the world after the FIFA World Cup; the Euro 2016 final was watched by a global audience of around 600 million. The competition has been held every four years since 1960, except for 2020, when it was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, but kept the name Euro 2020. Scheduled to be in the even-numbered year between FIFA World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the European Nations' Cup before changing to its current name in 1968. Since 1996, the individual events have been branded as "UEFA Euro [year]".
The France national football team represents France in men's international football. It is controlled by the French Football Federation, the governing body for football in France. It is a member of UEFA in Europe and FIFA in global competitions. The team's colours and imagery reference two national symbols: the French blue-white-red tricolour and Gallic rooster. The team is colloquially known as Les Bleus. They play home matches at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and train at Centre National du Football in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines.
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won 16 singles titles on the ATP Tour, tied for eighth most among active players. He is also fourth among active players with over 600 career match wins. His best performances in Grand Slam singles tournaments have been three semifinal appearances, two at the Wimbledon Championships and once at the US Open. His best performance in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 singles tournaments was being the runner-up in Hamburg in 2005 and Toronto in 2006 and 2012. He won the mixed doubles title at the 2004 French Open, partnering with Tatiana Golovin. He also won the men's doubles Olympic bronze medal in 2012 with his doubles partner Julien Benneteau. Gasquet is best known for his elegant groundstrokes and his one-handed backhand.
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlights include three major titles, those being the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open, where he defeated the world No. 1 player in the final on all three occasions. Other achievements include reaching the final of the 2017 French Open, winning a Masters 1000 title at the 2014 Monte-Carlo Masters, and reaching three other Masters finals. Representing Switzerland, Wawrinka won gold in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics partnering Roger Federer, and was also pivotal in the Swiss team's victory at the 2014 Davis Cup. Wawrinka considers clay his best and favorite surface, and his serve and backhand his best shots. John McEnroe once said that Wawrinka has one of the most powerful backhands ever, and in 2009 said he possessed "the best one-handed backhand in the game." He has been described by The Economist as "tennis's great latecomer", owing to finding his greatest success late in his career. Prior to the 2014 French Open, he requested and was granted a formal change in his name from "Stanislas Wawrinka" to "Stan Wawrinka", stating that he plans to use the abbreviated name in tournament draws and press conferences.
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the ATP, which he achieved in November 2016. His career highlights include reaching two major semifinals at the 2008 French Open and 2016 US Open, and three ATP Masters 1000 finals – two at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010, and the other at the 2016 Monte-Carlo Masters. Monfils was named the ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2005. He has won twelve ATP Tour singles titles and has been runner-up twenty-two times. He has reached at least one ATP Tour singles final every year since 2005 for 19 consecutive seasons, and is one of four players in the Open Era to do so for 19 or more seasons. He is also eight among active players with 550 career match wins.
Stade Roland Garros is a complex of tennis courts, including stadiums, located in Paris that hosts the French Open. That tournament, also known as Roland Garros, is a Grand Slam tennis championship played annually in late May and early June. The complex is named after Roland Garros (1888–1918), a pioneering French aviator, and was constructed in 1928 to host France's first defence of the Davis Cup.
Alizé Cornet is a French former professional tennis player. She has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 February 2009, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of world No. 11. Cornet has also made the second week at each of the four Grand Slam events, having reached the quarterfinals at the 2022 Australian Open, and the fourth round at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, the 2015 and 2017 French Opens, and the 2020 US Open. She holds the record for the most consecutive Grand Slam appearances with 69 and also in third place for overall appearances with 72.
The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe organised by UEFA. It was held in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016. Spain were the two-time defending champions, having won the 2008 and 2012 tournaments, but were eliminated in the round of 16 by Italy. Portugal won the tournament for the first time, following a 1–0 victory after extra time over the host team, France, in the final played at the Stade de France.
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules. The first Lawn Tennis Club and tournament was held in Royal Leamington Spa on 1 August 1882.
Anna Nikolayevna Kalinskaya is a Russian professional tennis player. Ranked by the WTA, she reached a career-high of No. 24 in singles in February 2024, and No. 49 in doubles in February 2023. On the WTA Tour, she has won three doubles titles. She also has won one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour, and seven singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Her best singles performance at a major is reaching the quarterfinals at the 2024 Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in the final, 6–3, 6–3, 6–0 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2022 French Open. It was his record-extending 14th French Open title and record-extending 22nd major title overall. It marked the first time in his career that he won the Australian Open and the French Open in the same calendar year. Nadal also became the third man to defeat four top 10 players en route to a major title since the introduction of ATP rankings in 1973. Ruud became the first Norwegian man to reach a major quarterfinal and beyond, and the first Scandinavian man to do so since Robin Söderling in 2010.
2024 Open de Seine-et-Marne 
