The French Open suffered its first complete washout since '00 on Monday "when all scheduled matches were cancelled due to heavy rain." There "could be more problems on Tuesday with further rain forecast throughout the day before conditions brighten Wednesday." Eight last-16 matches "planned for Monday plus two more which had already been held over from Sunday night will now be played on Tuesday." Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych tweeted: "All cancelled for today -- rain, rain go away" (AFP, 5/30).
DROPPING HINTS: Floyd Mayweather "has dropped another hint that he may face Conor McGregor" in an inter-discipline clash on his Instagram account. Mayweather and McGregor have been "discussing a potential fight in public for a long period of time, but there has been little in the way of official progress." Sunday night's post "appears to be an unofficial poster, but it received Mayweather's endorsement, suggesting that the retired boxer is keen to fight the Irish UFC star" (London DAILY MAIL, 5/30).
EVENT BRIEFS ...
The Asian FIBA Regional Office awarded the hosting rights for the 25th FIBA Asia Champions Cup to Beijing Atlas Sports & Cultural Development Co. Ltd. The event will take place in Chenzhou city in China's Hunan province from Oct. 8-16. FIBA Asia Regional Dir Hagop Khajirian said, "Atlas Sports will now have the full marketing and TV rights for Asia's most prestigious event for basketball club teams in Asia" (FIBA).
Tour of Belgium riders "staged a protest ahead of the fourth stage on Sunday, asking for better safety conditions after Belgian Stig Broeckx went into a coma following a crash caused by motorbikes." A Riders' association (CPA) statement said, "The riders started the stage after a few minutes' delay to show their pre-occupation over safety in races. CPA and AIGCP (group of professional teams) demand that new measures ... are implemented faster" (REUTERS, 5/29).
