NHL | Page 5 GOLF | Page 6 Controversial Koepka eyes goal helps historic US Blues win treble at Pebble game fi ve Beach Saturday, June 8, 2019 CRICKET Shawwal 5, 1440 AH England won’t GULF TIMES panic at World Cup: captain Morgan SPORT Page 2 TENNIS Nadal hands Federer worst Grand Slam loss for 11 years It will be Nadal’s 12th appearance in the championship match, which he has never lost before AFP wards the end of the second Paris set, when second seed Nadal managed to hold under severe pressure to level at 4-4, before efending champion putting the pedal down to break Rafael Nadal powered despite having trailed 40-0. past Roger Federer in The defending champion con- the French Open semi- fi dently served out the set to love Dfi nals yesterday, to move within to move one step closer to the fi - one victory of a record-extend- nal. ing 12th Roland Garros title after Federer’s chances were slip- handing his “biggest rival” his ping away quickly, and he re- worst Grand Slam defeat in 11 ceived a warning after angrily years. hitting the ball into the upper The 33-year-old produced a reaches of Philippe Chatrier as masterful performance to get Nadal romped to victory. past Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the last four on Court Philippe THIEM, DJOKOVIC HELD UP Chatrier and set up a fi nal clash BY RAIN with either world number one Thiem would have been the hap- Novak Djokovic or Austrian pier of the two to resume play- fourth seed Dominic Thiem to- ing yesterday, leading by a break morrow. Switzerland’s Roger Federer acknowledges the audience after losing in the third set after sharing the The second semi-fi nal was the French Open semi-final yesterday. (AFP) opening two with Djokovic. suspended until today due to The pair will instead restart rain, with Thiem leading 6-2, their match at 1000 GMT (12:00 3-6, 3-1 as he looks to reach a local time) today, before the second straight Roland Garros women’s fi nal between Czech fi nal. teenager Marketa Vondrousova The decision to end play drew and Australian eighth seed Ash- extra ire towards the tournament leigh Barty. organisers, after they had been The skies brightened almost labelled a “disgrace” for moving immediately after play was end- the women’s semi-fi nals away ed for the day at 1645 GMT (18:45 from the showpiece Chatrier local), and at least another two court. hours of play could have been ac- It will be Nadal’s 12th appear- Spain’s Rafael Nadal reacts after winning a point against Switzerland’s Roger Federer during their men’s commodated. ance in the championship match, singles French Open semi-final at Roland Garros in Paris yesterday. (AFP) “I believe that we have hit rock which he has never lost before. bottom but the good thing is that “In front (of me was) prob- Nadal also leads his overall Nadal made only 19 unforced in order to be better prepared for the only way now is up,” said ably my biggest rival in my career head-to-head against Federer errors, crushing 33 winners as Wimbledon. former women’s world number with all the story that we shared 24-15, and 14-2 on clay after end- Federer struck 25, although that “I think I surprised myself one Amelie Mauresmo. together,” said Nadal. “So that al- ing a run of fi ve straights losses to amount could easily have been maybe how deep I got in this People take cover from the rain during the men’s semi-final between Top seed Djokovic had been ways makes the match a little bit the 37-year-old. doubled against any opponent tournament and how well I actu- Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Austria’s Dominic Thiem yesterday. (AFP) increasingly frustrated with the more special and unique.” He could also move to within other than the 11-time cham- ally was able to play throughout,” conditions on court with high The third seed now has an two of Federer on the all-time pion. he said. But Nadal grabbed a 4-2 ad- but gasped in appreciation of a winds kicking up the clay. stunning 92-2 win-loss record on Grand Slam title winners’ list The defeat leaves Federer still vantage in a marathon sixth game rasping Nadal backhand winner He even summoned the tour the Paris clay, having beaten Fed- with an 18th major tomorrow. waiting for a fi rst victory over TOPSY-TURVY START as Federer, looking to become the which clinched the opening set. supervisor at one stage to com- erer for the sixth time in as many A tally of just nine games Nadal on clay since 10 years ago A topsy-turvy start saw the oldest Grand Slam fi nalist since The Swiss turned on the style plain about the severity of the French Open meetings despite meant it was Federer’s heaviest in Madrid. Spaniard race through the fi rst Ken Rosewall at the 1974 US to take the fi rst two games of the conditions. diffi cult, windy conditions. defeat in a Grand Slam match It was 2009 champion Feder- three games before Federer broke Open, dumped a forehand into second set, only to be broken Tournament organisers said “This court can be windy, can since managing only four against er’s fi rst French Open campaign back as the wind played havoc the net. straight back as Nadal curled a that fans holding tickets for the be diffi cult,” added Nadal. “To- Nadal in their famously one-sid- since 2015, after skipping the with the players’ serves from one The crowd were roaring on trademark forehand up the line. semi-fi nal will be fully refunded day was a little bit too much.” ed 2008 Roland Garros fi nal. clay-court season for two years end. Federer as he saved a set point, The key moments came to- as they will not be valid for today. FOOTBALL Several clubs declare opposition to proposed Champions League reform Reuters The ECA says it wants to help clubs “We believe it is important to imple- Porto, Portugal outside the biggest fi ve leagues by ment a fairer distribution model among giving them more regular European participating and non-participating matches. clubs to guarantee the proper com- everal European clubs from “Any reform should ensure that clubs petitive balance both in Europe and at Switzerland, Germany, Italy, of all sizes can continue to develop and league level,” he said. France and Portugal have pub- grow to their full potential in a manner Wanja Greuel, chief executive of licly declared their opposition which also protects domestic competi- Swiss champions Young Boys, said that Sto a proposed creation of a nearly closed tions,” it said in a statement. “for the very fi rst time several clubs Champions League, saying that other Schalke 04 chief executive Peter from all over Europe have stated their clubs are also concerned. Peters said in a statement that “nearly fi rm opposition to the current proposal The proposal has been put forward by all European clubs are not convinced” presented by UEFA and ECA”. the European Club Association (ECA) about the proposal and that discussions Greuel said most clubs would “fi ght which has 232 members and is working needed to start “with a blank page.” to implement a diff erent European with UEFA to redesign European com- Lazio president Claudio Lotito took a football model which could benefi t all petition from 2024 onwards. similar line, saying “most” Italian clubs clubs in Europe and not solely the elite However, following an ECA meeting were against the plan. European clubs.” in Malta on Thursday and yesterday, “We have to stop the current plans FC Basel’s chief executive Roland several member clubs said that it need- and we have to sit with all stakehold- Heri said fans groups in Europe had ed a fresh approach. ers and start the whole project from also raised concerns. “The passion of According to European league offi - scratch,” he said in a statement. our fans is mainly driven by the domes- cials who have seen the plans, the con- St Etienne president Bernard tic games we play at domestic level in troversial proposal involves a three-tier Caiazzo said the meeting in Malta was Switzerland,” he said. European league with promotion and a “step forward in efforts to block the Frederic Longuepee, president of relegation between each tier. reform”. Girondins de Bordeaux, said a sig- The top tier would be the new version AS Monaco’s deputy CEO Nico- nifi cant number of clubs were worried of the Champions League but 24 of the las Holveck said that the meeting had about impact of the reform on domestic 32 teams would keep their places for the failed to discuss the revenue distribu- leagues and fans’ expectations. following season, breaking the tradition tion of club competitions, which many “Any coherent reform can’t protect that qualifi cation is achieved through observers feel is heavily weighted in fa- the interest of a few at the expense of Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold kisses the UEFA Champions League trophy during an open-top bus parade around performance in domestic competition. vour of the big clubs. the majority,” he said. Liverpool, England, on Sunday. (AFP) Gulf Times 2 Saturday, June 8, 2019 CRICKET WORLD CUP FOCUS UPDATE Pakistan, Sri Lanka share points aft er England won’t Bristol washout AFP points, with one win and a loss Bristol, United Kingdom apiece.