FOOTBALL | Page 3 FFOCUSOCUS | Page 11 Brazil held Generation by Ecuador, Amazing To Advertise here Peru down opens football Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 Haiti pitch in Nepal Monday, June 6, 2016 ATHLETICS Ramadan 1, 1437 AH Mo Farah pays GULF TIMES tribute to Ali in record style SPORT Page 9 Serbia’s Novak Djokovic poses with the trophy after winning the French Open final at Roland Garros in Paris yesterday. (AFP) DjokoDjoko SlamsSlams it,it, fifi nallynally Austin in 1937, remains with two Grand Slam Dumusois for refusing to have a point re- the second seed carried on a running argu- Serb becomes only third man in history to titles as he failed to become the fi rst Brit win- played at 15-0 as Murray served for the fi rst ment with the umpire over the positioning of ner of the French Open since Fred Perry 81 set. the overhead camera. hold all four Majors at the same time after years ago. But the Serb was horribly out of sorts even The Serb broke to love for 5-2 and history “What Novak’s achieved in the last 12 before that spat with his 13 unforced errors was just moments away. However, there was winning French Open on his 12th attempt months is phenomenal, winning all the Grand proving fatal. still time for a twist as he cracked when serv- Slams in one year is an amazing achievement. The world number one had to shake off a ing for the title before fi nally sealing the tri- It’s so rare in tennis, and for me personally, it break point in the opening game of the second umph after three hours on court. AFP victory when Murray netted a backhand. s*** to lose the match,” said Murray. set before Murray obligingly imploded, drop- Paris “It’s a very special moment, the biggest of Before a ball was hit, spectators stood to ping serve to fall 2-0 behind. my career,” said Djokovic, one of only eight applaud Muhammad Ali after an image of the Djokovic misread the geometry on a drop- Leading Major winners men to complete the career Grand Slam and boxing legend, who died Friday, appeared on shot which would have given him a double ovak Djokovic captured a fi rst who had lost his previous three fi nals in Paris. the giant video screen high up on the Philippe break in the fourth game but he was soon 4-1 17: Roger Federer (SUI) French Open at the 12th time of ask- “I felt today something that I never felt before Chatrier court. to the good. 14: Pete Sampras (USA), Rafael Nadal ing yesterday, becoming just the at Roland Garros, I felt the love of the crowd.” The top seed remained ruthlessly dialled- (ESP) third man in history to hold all four Djokovic imitated former three-time STRESSFUL ENDING in, broke again for 5-1 and levelled the fi nal 12: Roy Emerson (AUS), Novak Djokovic NGrand Slam titles at the same time. champion Gustavo Kuerten by drawing a gi- Djokovic admitted to a pre-match TV inter- when Murray dumped a service return into (SRB) The world number one downed old rival ant heart in the Paris clay before collapsing viewer that it was certain to be an emotional the net. 11: Rod Laver (AUS), Bjorn Borg (SWE) Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to claim a inside it. afternoon although he was quickly into his Djokovic, with the Paris crowd loudly on 10: Bill Tilden (USA) 12th career major and join Don Budge in 1938 “I drew the heart on the court, like Guga stride, breaking Murray to love in the fi rst his side for the fi rst time in four fi nal appear- and Rod Laver, in 1962 and 1969, as the only who gave me permission to do. My heart will game and shrugging off having to play fi ve ances, broke for 2-1 in the third set which be- Djokovic’s path to the title players to simultaneously possess the French always be with you on this court.” days in the last six. came 4-1 off a sublime running, backhand, Open, Australian Open, US Open and Wim- Playing in his 20th fi nal at the majors and The British star broke back to level before cross-court drop-shot. 1st rd: bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 bledon trophies. Djokovic, 29, also put him- sixth in succession, the Serb superstar is the reeling off the next four games for a 4-1 lead The Serb saved four break points to go to 2nd rd: bt Steve Darcis (BEL) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 self halfway to the calendar Grand Slam, last fi rst man since Jim Courier in 1992 to win the as Djokovic’s game quickly and unexpectedly 5-1 before securing the set against a weary- 3rd rd: bt Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 achieved by Laver 47 years ago. Australian and French Opens back-to-back. unravelled. looking Murray who had spent fi ve hours 4th rd: bt Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x14) But he did it the hard way as the fi nal Victory also allowed Djokovic to stretch his Murray remained in charge, fi nding time to longer on court than Djokovic and played two 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 reached a tense conclusion, being broken in winning record over 29-year-old Murray to loudly berate a French television interviewer fi ve-setters in the opening rounds to get to his QF: bt Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 the eighth game of the fourth set as he served 24-10 overall and 8-2 in Grand Slams. for climbing uninvited into his player’s box fi rst French Open fi nal. SF: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT x13) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 for the title and then squandering two cham- Murray, the world number two and the fi rst overlooking the court. Djokovic kept his foot on Murray’s throat, F: bt Andy Murray (GBR x2) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 pionship points in the 10th before he sealed British man in the fi nal in Paris since Bunny Djokovic then argued with umpire Damien breaking in the fi rst game of the fourth set as Gulf Times 2 Monday, June 6, 2016 TENNIS FOCUS Numbers game keeps Serena on the edge Reuters upward to the all-time record of 24 held against fourth seed Muguruza, who Paris by Australian Margaret Court, who strad- Williams beat at Wimbledon in 2015 to dled the amateur and professional eras – win title number 21. is still very much on the agenda. The previous day Williams appeared s a serial winner, Serena “You can see blockages and mental to view the Graf landmark with an un- Williams has broken records problems. I see neither,” he told re- easy mixture of fatalism and indiff er- without a backward glance porters in the Roland Garros players’ ence, telling reporters “(there’s) noth- Athroughout her career, but lounge after Saturday’s defeat. “I see ing I can do about it”. since September there is one milestone how diffi cult it is to win a Grand Slam, But in her fi nal match in Paris—per- that has loomed ever larger in halting how diffi cult to set all-time records... haps in contrast to New York and Mel- her progress towards the game’s pan- It will take the time it takes. It was bourne—it did not appear to weigh her theon. tough to win the 17th, the 18th, it will down. She came up against someone It is marked ‘Total Grand Slam Wins’, be hard to win the 22nd and the 23rd who, in a high-octane fi nal in which and frames a debate about who to con- but we will do it.” neither woman gave ground, played sider the greatest woman player of all Williams could not have racked up the better tennis and beat the Ameri- time. One name on a very short list of numbers 19 to 21 any quicker, how- can at her own power game. candidates is Serena herself and an- ever, as she won the fi rst three majors Widely tipped after her win as the other is Steffi Graf, who holds the pro- of 2015, putting her on course for the future queen of the sport, 22-year-old fessional-era record of 22 singles titles calendar Grand Slam that only Graf, Muguruza will take some catching. at the game’s four blue riband events. Court and American Maureen Con- Does Williams, who turns 35 in Sep- The American is one behind that and, nolly have achieved. tember, have enough left in the tank to back in September when she seemed as But Williams unravelled in the US give chase? dominant as at any time since turning Open semi-fi nal against unseeded Her coach believes she still has the professional in 1995, looked odds-on to Italian Roberta Vinci, a player she had game and, just as importantly, the pas- tie the record at the US Open. not conceded a set against in four pre- sion to do just that. “If she was indiff er- But, revealing a fragility few had an- vious meetings. In January’s fi nal of the ent about making history in her sport ticipated, she fell short there and did Australian Open, the American again that would be a concern,” Mouratoglou so again in the fi nals of the two sub- failed to cross the fi nishing line, los- said.