The French Open men's final was held up by a flare-carrying protestor on Sunday, who came within just a few feet of defending champion Rafael Nadal, to demonstrate against France's same-sex marriage law. The match between Nadal and David Ferrer was in the second set when a shirtless spectator, wearing a white mask, leapt from the stands and onto the court brandishing a flare before he was wrestled away by security officials. The protestor had the words 'Childrens Rights' written across his chest in English.

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo was on Thursday handed a nine-month suspension after being found guilty of pushing a referee. The ban, handed down by the disciplinary commission of the French Football League (LFP), applies to all official duties as well as stopping him from being present on the touchline during PSG games. The Brazilian was found guilty of deliberately pushing referee Alexandre Castro in the tunnel following PSG's 1-1 Ligue 1 draw against Valenciennes on May 5, with the incident being caught on camera by Canal Plus television.

She's the girl from Neenah, Wisconsin, who sports garish leopard print dresses, knee-high football socks and cowboy hats on court while slapping thick, black paint beneath her eyes. Brash American Bethanie Mattek-Sands is the self-styled Lady Gaga of tennis and on Thursday at a rain-deluged French Open, she sent Chinese star Li Na completely loco. Mattek-Sands, who hails from America's Midwest, but lives in Arizona with her accountant husband, stunned the 2011 champion, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the third round at Roland Garros and add a little colour to a drab Paris day.

OTTAWA - The OECD has reduced its estimates for Canadian economic growth this year and next. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development currently expects a 1.4 per cent advance this year for Canada — down four-tenths of a point from its November estimate of 1.8 per cent. The multinational forecasting group has also reduced its estimate for Canada's economic growth in 2014, now expected at 2.3 per cent — one-tenth of a point below the previous estimate of 2.4 per cent.