FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2019 SPORT 17 It was just so good to see us go out and play with the belief and intensity TODAY TOMORROW that we had spoken about. When we Pakistan cricket coach Pakistan vs Sri Lanka England vs Bangladesh 12:30pm (Qatar time) 12:30pm (Qatar time) in Cardiff put all three disciplines together we Mickey Arthur know we can beat anybody. We now Match No: 11 Afghanistan vs New Zealand need to stay consistent and ruthless. At Bristol County Ground 3:30pm (Qatar time) in Taunton Serb World No. 1 beats Zverev to make ninth appearance at Roland Garros last-four Ruthless Djokovic sets up Thiem semi AFP PARIS FRENCH OPEN RESULTS Anisimova blows Novak Djokovic reached his ninth MEN Halep out as dream Roland Garros semi-final yesterday, QUARTER-FINALS sweeping past Alexander Zverev to run continues keep his bid to become just the second Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) bt Alexander Zverev (GER x5) 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 man to hold all four Slams at the same Dominic Thiem (AUT x4) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x10) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 REUTERS time twice firmly on track. PARIS Top seed and world number one WOMEN Djokovic won 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 and will QUARTER-FINALS Teenage sensation Amanda Anisimova blew face Austrian fourth seed Dominic Ashleigh Barty (AUS x8) bt Madison Keys (USA x14) 6-3, 7-5 defending champion Simona Halep out of Thiem today in what will be his 35th Amanda Anisimova (USA) bt Simona Halep (ROM x3) 6-2, 6-4 the French Open with a shock 6-2, 6-4 Grand Slam semi-final. victory in the quarter-finals yesterday, and Thiem reached the semi-finals for immediately set her sights on winning the a fourth successive year with a 6-2, Suzanne Lenglen Cup. 6-4, 6-2 victory against Russian 10th Third seed Halep, who had been looking seed Karen Khachanov. to become the first woman to retain her title “It was a big challenge for me at Roland Garros since Belgian Justine Henin today but I was hitting the ball more won three times in a row from 2005-07, cleanly,” said 32-year-old Djokovic. never found a solution to counter the “It’s a great joy to be in the semi- 17-year-old American’s beguiling mix of finals again.” speed and accuracy. The problem for Djokovic now in The unseeded Anisimova, the first player his pursuit of a second title in Paris and born in the 2000s to reach the last eight at 16th major is the weather. a Grand Slam, can become the first teenager Heavy rain is forecast to hit Paris to lift the trophy here since Iva Majoli of again on Friday after Wednesday’s Croatia prevailed in 1997. washout. She next faces Australian eighth seed “I just have to keep my concen- Ashleigh Barty, who beat American Madison tration and stay in the moment. I hope Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (right) reacts as Germany’s Alexander Zverev falls on the ground, during their men’s singles Keys in the day’s other rescheduled quarter- to continue like this,” said the Serb. quarter-final match of the 2019 French Open in Paris, yesterday. final after Wednesday’s complete washout. Today’s other semi-final will see Halep’s defeat means that the 2019 Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer champion will be the ninth different winner resume their great rivalry, meaning in the third and fifth games of the TODAY’S ORDER OF PLAY Court Suzanne Lenglen, hammering in the last 10 Grand Slam tournaments. this is the first time the top four seeds opening set and finally broke through 29 winners, as his erratic opponent Anisimova played fearlessly from the have all reached the last four at a for a 5-4 lead. COURT PHILIPPE CHATRIER (1050 GMT) contrived to tally 37 unforced errors start to storm to a 4-2 lead, and then broke Grand Slam since the 2013 Australian But top seed Djokovic levelled 3-Roger Federer (Switzerland) vs 2-Rafa and only 17 winners. Halep again to bag the opening set in under Open. immediately before claiming the set Nadal (Spain) “The key was to control the points. half an hour. The last time Djokovic made the on a Zverev double fault. 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) vs 4-Dominic I’ll be ready to maybe come back here With balls flying off her racket like a semi-finals was 2016 when he went Djokovic dominated the second set Thiem (Austria) tomorrow. This is one of my favourite speeding bullet, Anisimova piled on the on to win the title. as breaks in the second and eighth courts in the world,” said the 25-year- pressure as she lured her opponent to the net He has a 6-2 career lead over games were enough to tighten his grip. COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN old, who is chasing a maiden Grand before finishing off the point with passing shots. Thiem and beat the Austrian in the The world number one saved two 8-Ashleigh Barty (Australia) vs Amanda Slam title. Anisimova was 3-1 up in the second when Rome semi-finals in the run-up to more break points in the opening game Anisimova (US) Khachanov had impressed in a Halep earned break points, but the American Paris. of the third set and again made the fourth-round victory over Juan Martin fended them off with some superb angled However, Thiem came out on top German pay with a break for 4-2. COURT SIMONNE MATHIEU del Potro, but was never in with a winners. in the Roland Garros quarter-finals in Zverev’s 40th and last unforced 26-Johanna Konta (Britain) vs Marketa chance in the quarter-final, which was Halep eventually broke back in the straight sets in 2017. error proved to be the final point of Vondrousova (Czech Republic) delayed from Wednesday due to rain, seventh game when Anisimova overcooked Fifth seed Zverev, bidding to reach the one-sided quarter-final. dropping serve twice in the opening set. a backhand down the line. a maiden Slam semi-final and become “I had chances in the first set but He managed to get to 4-4 in the The teenager showed signs of nerves at the first German in the last-four in he broke back and was in control,” said The world number five finished second, only to see Thiem reel off eight 4-4 but Halep failed to convert a break point. Paris since Michael Stich in 1996, made the German. with eight double faults while con- of the next 10 games and seal a last- That miss proved costly for Halep as Ani- the stronger start. “When he’s in control, he’s tough verting just one of eight break points. four spot without even facing a break simova wrapped up the greatest win of her The 22-year-old had break points to beat. He’s number one for a reason. Thiem was utterly dominant on point in the match. young career with her 25th winner. Johnson skeptical about NBA Finals: Curry’s heroics not defending Canadian Open enough as Raptors win game 3 AP ANCASTER, ONTARIO REUTERS A couple of key changes have stacked the odds against Dustin OAKLAND Johnson as he tries to defend his RBC Canadian Open title. The No. 2 player in the world pulled away from the field Missing two key pillars of their after a nearly two-hour rain delay to win his first Canadian starting lineup, the Golden State Open last year, firing 6-under 66 in last year’s final round to Warriors had to turn to two-time finish at 23 under. MVP Stephen Curry against the But this year the only Canadian stop on the PGA Tour has Toronto Raptors in Game Three moved from Glen Abbey Golf Club, a course Johnson is familiar of the NBA Finals in Oakland on with, to Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Wednesday. More importantly, the tournament has moved up in the Curry obliged and gave them golf calendar, making it a lead-in event to the US Open and 47 points and six three pointers drawing a significantly stronger group of competitors. while playing nearly the entire “I mean, it’s a really good field. It’s a golf course I haven’t game but it was not enough. played. That definitely adds a little bit more difficulty to it,” The two-time defending Johnson said on Wednesday. “I don’t know the golf course as champions fell 123-109 to the vis- well as I know Glen Abbey, where I played a lot of Opens.” itors and now trail 2-1 in the best- Johnson is joined by top-ranked Brooks Koepka, fresh off of of-seven series as the team’s his PGA Championship win, No. 4 Rory McIlroy and No. 6 Justin other starters could only muster Thomas, who was added to the field today. 36 points combined. Historically, the Canadian Open was held Despite playing without in September, but starting in 2007 it was shooting guard Klay Thompson played in late July, the prime golf season. (hamstring) and forward Kevin Stephen Curry (second left) of the Golden State Warriors attempts to shoot during Game Three of the Unfortunately, it was also the week after Durant (calf), Warriors coach 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on Wednesday. the British Open, causing many of the Steve Kerr said the team could PGA Tour’s top players to miss the tour- still hold their head high.