Jaylen Brown hailed the Boston Celtics' unity after they beat the Miami Heat 110-97 to force Game 6 in the Eastern Conference finals.
Having staved off elimination with a win in Game 4, the Celtics never trailed in Game 5 on Thursday as they cut Miami's lead to 3-2.
Boston will now aim to level the series in Miami on Saturday. Should they complete a remarkable turnaround, they will be the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series, after 150 previous sides failed to do so.
Brown, who contributed 21 points to Celtics' total, explained the team could not have been at a lower ebb after losing the first three games of the series.
"Our back has been against the wall. Obviously, we didn't imagine being in this position, being down 3-0, but when adversity hits, you get to see what a team is really made of," he said.
"It couldn't get worse than being down 3-0, but we didn't look around, we didn't go in separate directions. We stayed together."
Only three teams have managed to take a series to Game 7 after losing the opening three games, the last of which was the Portland Trail Blazers in 2003.
"For some odd reason, even last year, we always seemed to make it a little bit tougher on ourselves," added Jayson Tatum, who had a double-double of 21 points and 11 assists.
"What I do know is that you can see the true character of a person, of a team, when things aren't going well, and our ability to come together, figure things out when it's not necessarily looking good for us.
"It's unlike any team I've been on this year and last year, just the core group of guys being able to respond.
"I think that's just a testament to our togetherness, obviously how bad we want it, and we've got a room full of determined, tough guys that push comes to shove, you look to the left and the right of you, believe that the guy next to you is going to do whatever it takes and go down fighting if it doesn't work out."
Looking ahead to Game 6, Brown is under no illusions of the scale of the task at hand.
"It's going to take everything," he said.
"It's going to be a dogfight. I imagine those guys will play better than they played tonight, and they're going to come out aggressive. We've got to be ready to take their punch at home. We've got to be ready to be resilient and come out and do what we're supposed to do."
Joe Pavelski rifled home a power-play goal at 3:18 of overtime and the Dallas Stars avoided a sweep with a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday in the Western Conference finals.
Jason Robertson notched his first career multigoal playoff game for Dallas and Jake Oettinger rebounded with 37 saves, two nights after he lasted just over seven minutes in a Game 3 loss.
Vegas' Brayden McNabb was called for a high-sticking penalty 2:28 into overtime, and Pavelski needed just 50 seconds to end it. He took a feed from Miro Heiskanen in the left circle and drilled a one-timer inside the far post and past Adin Hill.
The goal was the ninth in 12 games this postseason for Pavelski, whose 73 career playoff goals are the most among active players.
Dallas played without captain Jamie Benn after he was suspended for two games by the NHL for his cross-check near the neck of Vegas skipper Mark Stone early in Tuesday's Game 3.
Benn will also miss Game 5 on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The Golden Knights missed an opportunity to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.
William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault scored for the Knights and Hill had his five-game winning streak snapped despite making 39 saves.
Derrick White led with 24 points and the Boston Celtics never trailed in a 110-97 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday to stave off elimination and force Game 6 in the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston scored 20 of the game's first 25 points and held a comfortable lead the rest of the way to cut the series deficit to 3-2.
The Celtics will try to prolong their season again when the series moves back to Miami for Game 6 on Saturday.
They are two wins away from becoming the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series after 150 previous teams failed to do so.
Marcus Smart had 23 points and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown added 21 apiece in Boston's second consecutive strong shooting performance.
The Celtics shot over 50 percent from the field and were 16 of 39 from 3-point range, including White going 6 of 8.
Boston are 34 of 84 from deep the past two games after going 31 for 106 in the first three games of the series.
Duncan Robinson led Miami with 18 points off the bench, while Jimmy Butler was held to 14 - his lowest total of the postseason.
The Heat committed 10 first-half turnovers and trailed 61-44 at the break.
Miami point guard Gabe Vincent sat out with a sprained left ankle and was replaced in the starting lineup by Kyle Lowry, who had five points and four turnovers in 30 minutes.
A career-best round of 62 propelled England’s Harry Hall to the top of the leaderboard after the opening day of the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club.
Hall took only 22 putts to card a score of eight under and a decisive three-shot lead in Fort Worth, Texas.
He picked up eight birdies without dropping a shot and managed to save par from 15 and 30 feet.
Harris English is Hall’s closest competitor on five under, after the American split a bogey with six birdies, including two on his final two holes.
Tom Hoge, Adam Schenk, Robby Shelton and Andrew Putnam are all tied for third on four under par.
Elsewhere, it was a mixed day for Scotland’s Russel Knox and English duo Callum Tarren and Justin Rose, who all head into Friday’s second round on one under.
Club professional Michael Block, who dazzled the golfing world with his heroics at the US PGA Championship heroics, had a rough outing as he finished his opening round 11 over par.
Michael van Gerwen created Premier League history by winning his seventh title to move clear of the great Phil Taylor.
The Dutchman, who joined Taylor on six wins 12 months ago, overtook him after a masterful performance to beat Gerwyn Price 11-5 in the final at the O2 Arena.
Van Gerwen, whose participation was in doubt after withdrawing from last week’s final weekly round in Aberdeen with a shoulder injury, has dominated this competition since winning his first title 10 years ago.
No one loves the 02 stage quite like him and after edging a thrilling semi-final against rival Michael Smith, where he won 10-8, he got the better of Price in the final.
He threw three 100-plus checkouts – a 170, 150 and 128 – and averaged 105.43 as he dominated his opponent.
He was averaging over 110 by the time he took out the big fish to break Price’s throw in the sixth leg and then claimed a second break with a 128 checkout to make it four legs in a row.
Price stopped the rot with a 161 checkout of his own and the Welshman then broke Van Gerwen’s throw in a scrappy leg that saw him reduce the deficit to 7-4.
But Van Gerwen put his foot on the pedal again and a 150 checkout put him one leg away, which he had no problems in taking out to lift the trophy for the seventh time.
He said during his on-stage interview: “I have worked really hard lately. Everyone knows I had problems last week.
“I put pressure on myself and I keep doing that and today it motivated me. I played some fantastic darts, what more can you wish for than to win this trophy?
“You always have to pick the right moment, to come back here in the O2 and play the likes of Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price, you have to perform your A-game, I knew I had to do something special today and I am glad I was able to.
“It feels amazing, to beat Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith feels good and to win for a seventh time is a nice little extra thing.”
Price is still searching for his first title and a brilliant campaign, where he won four of the weekly rounds, ends in ultimate disappointment.
‘The Iceman’ had earlier destroyed his compatriot Jonny Clayton in the semi-final, winning 10-2 in double-quick time, but he fell short in the big one against Van Gerwen.
But his performances going around the country will go some way to repairing his fractured relationship with the crowd, which saw him exit the World Championship at Christmas in dismay having being forced to wear ear defenders such was the negative reaction towards him inside the Alexandra Palace.
He was crestfallen after the loss, saying: “I just couldn’t find the trebles, the doubles, I couldn’t find anything, that’s how it goes sometimes.
“I’m gutted. I just felt this one is the one that got away, I was missing by so far, I wasn’t even close, I don’t know what happened.”
International Tennis Federation (ITF) president David Haggerty is disappointed that Rafael Nadal will not be able to feature at Roland Garros, which he called "Rafa's house".
Nadal has not played since suffering a second-round exit at the Australian Open in January, having struggled with a hip injury during his straight-sets defeat to Mackenzie McDonald, and will not play at the French Open.
The Spaniard last week confirmed he will be unable to compete at Roland Garros, where he is a record 14-time champion.
When announcing his withdrawal, Nadal said 2024 would "probably" be his final year on the ATP Tour and outlined his intention of making farewell appearances at "important tournaments".
Haggerty said: "I think it's disappointing for Rafa not to be there because we know Roland Garros as Rafa's house so to speak.
"He's won it so many times and people love to watch him play. [It is] disappointing.
"I was happy to hear that he is talking about the possibility of his return to the Davis Cup finals, which would be fantastic. I wish him a successful recovery and hope to see him on the court again."
While Nadal will not be present in Paris, WTA world number one Iga Swiatek is set to be in action.
Swiatek is the defending champion, and Haggerty says the Pole will be well aware her rivals are gunning for her title.
"She's the number one player in the world and I think that she has been ranked number one for more than a year consecutively," he said.
"So [she is] a very, very good player. She won Roland Garros last year, so I expect to see her performances continued to be good knowing that everybody's after her to try to beat number one."
At 21, Swiatek already has three grand slam titles under her belt. And with 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz conquering all on the ATP Tour, Haggerty thinks tennis' future is in safe hands, even as Nadal and Novak Djokovic reach the twilight of their careers.
"I think we have many good young men and young women that are showing how great tennis is and and putting on good rivalries already," he said.
"So I think the future is bright."
Hukum overcame his own lengthy absence to deny last year’s Derby winner Desert Crown in the Racehorse Lotto Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown.
Trained by Owen Burrows, Hukum is now six and his career looked over after he picked up what looked a career-ending injury in winning the Coronation Cup 12 months ago.
The decision was taken to keep him in training and that now looks inspired, as Jim Crowley – who briefly looked boxed in – got Hukum flying late on to win by half a length in an enthralling battle up the Sandown hill.
Desert Crown had been kept off the track by his own injury – for 355 days to Hukum’s 356 – after his famous Epsom success on what was just his third ever outing.
Following his tried and tested route with his top-class older horses, Sir Michael Stoute was looking for a 12th win in the race and connections were happy going into the Group Three feature.
Settled in fifth by Richard Kingscote as stablemate and pacemaker Solid Stone led at a steady gallop, he was set something of a test but breezed into the lead a furlong out only to be reeled in late on by the 5-1 winner.
While Stoute will no doubt be left scratching his head his former assistant Burrows will be dreaming of a big summer.
Betfair cut Hukum to 14-1 from 25s for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Desert Crown now the same price from 8s.
Roberto Escobarr gained his first success since June 2021 when making all the running to win the Racehorse Lotto Henry II Stakes at Sandown.
Trained by William Haggas, the son of Galileo is now six but in his younger days looked destined to be winning races like this Group Two event when taking a Listed contest at York on just his fifth ever outing.
He only made it to the track once in 2022 and was returning from 399 days off when third at Wolverhampton in March.
Fitter for that, he was sent off the 7-5 favourite and Richard Kingscote sent him into an early lead and was never headed.
Nate The Great pestered him all the way to the line, but the winner was always holding him and prevailed by a neck.
Haggas’ charge was cut to 10-1 from 14s for the Northumberland Plate by Betfair.
The Miami Heat’s mission to reach the NBA Finals has become a bit tougher, as starting guard Gabe Vincent has been ruled out for Thursday’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics because of a sprained left ankle.
Vincent was injured with just over eight minutes left in Miami’s Game 4 loss when he landed awkwardly and rolled his ankle while catching the ball after Jayson Tatum blocked his shot.
He then went to the locker room and got his ankle taped and was able to return with just under five minutes to play.
Thursday morning, Vincent went through a workout but Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said he's not healthy enough to take the court in Boston.
The four-year veteran finished with 17 points in Tuesday’s 116-99 loss after leading the Heat with a playoff career-high 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting in Sunday’s 128-102 victory that gave Miami a 3-0 lead in the conference finals.
Vincent has started each of Miami’s first 15 playoff games and is third on the Heat in postseason scoring at 13.1 points per game behind Jimmy Butler (29.9) and Bam Adebayo (17.6).
His 36 3-pointers this postseason are the most among all Heat players and he’s been solid from the foul line, making 25 of 28 free throws (89.3 per cent).
With Vincent out, 37-year-old Kyle Lowry is expected to move into the starting lineup.
The 17-year-veteran is averaging 9.2 points, 4.5 assists and 3.3 rebounds off the bench for Miami this postseason.
Elite Status turned what looked a competitive renewal of the Racehorse Lotto National Stakes at Sandown into a procession.
Trained by Karl Burke, the son of Havana Grey – who himself won this race in 2017 – cost 325,000 guineas at Tattersalls Book 2 in October and already looks like living up to his purchase price.
A winner at Doncaster on soft ground on debut, he faced quicker conditions on this occasion but that proved no barrier to success.
Blue Storm grabbed the favoured rail early and made sure the field was quickly stretched, with Charlie Appleby’s On Point very slowly away and losing all chance.
Dapper Valley then had the misfortune of malfunctioning tack which cost him any chance and with Son Of Corballis another outpaced the contenders began to thin out.
With well over a furlong to run Clifford Lee moved Elite Status (5-2 favourite) up to join Blue Storm and the response was electric.
Burke’s colt lengthened smartly and just went further clear with every stride, eventually winning by five lengths with stablemate World Of Darcy running on into second and Hackman third.
Paddy Power make the winner their 2-1 favourite for the Norfolk at Royal Ascot.
Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 25.
Football
Izzy Christiansen had some big news.
And so did West Ham.
Kammy showed his love for Jeff Stelling.
Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland looked fresh.
Ilkay Gundogan was impressed by Brighton.
Danny Welbeck and Billy Gilmour were celebrating Brighton’s achievement.
Ben Earl is looking to help Saracens regain the Gallagher Premiership title and put down an early World Cup selection marker at Twickenham on Saturday.
Saracens flanker Earl has been among the league’s most consistent performers, highlighted by him winning Premiership player of the season last year.
But while his England career is into double figures in terms of caps, he has made just two Test appearances since March 2021.
Earl’s experience of the Guinness Six Nations this term was restricted to a combined 52 minutes off the bench against Scotland and Italy, with back-row starting berths in Steve Borthwick’s team being fought out by the likes of Ben Curry, Jack Willis and Lewis Ludlam.
A Premiership final puts himself firmly in the spotlight, though, ahead of England’s World Cup countdown towards France later this year gathering pace.
“The moment you start looking for excuses, the moment you start thinking I am just unlucky, my face doesn’t fit, is probably the moment you give somebody the reason to drop you,” Earl said.
“I’ve kind of got to stay with it. Steve was unbelievably positive about my work in the Six Nations.
“Unfortunately, selection didn’t always go my way, but I am trying to stay positive and put my best foot forward in these big games, which are probably the games he is looking at the most.
“I think I have played as consistently as I did last year, which was a big challenge of mine.
“There is no point winning some of the accolades I did last year and not backing it up. Selfishly, the elephant in the room is that I wish I could have played a bit more for England in that Six Nations campaign.
“For whatever reason, I didn’t, and I have learnt a lot from that. I am looking forward to going again, putting my best foot forward in these big games, which has been a big focus of mine.
“The moment that you stop performing, you give someone an easy reason not to pick you. That is a big thing.
“On the flip-side, if I get a chance to play a Test match this summer, it’s got to be good.
“You look at how competitive my position is, it always feels that the person who slips up first is going to be the one that misses out.”
Saracens are back at English rugby headquarters a year after Freddie Burns’ late drop-goal saw Leicester crowned champions, leaving Earl and his team-mates deflated.
But victory over Sale, who have reached a first Premiership final since 2006, would give Saracens a sixth league crown in the past 13 seasons.
“It would mean everything to me,” Earl added. “The amount of times I have carried bags for games like these when I was a bit younger, I have always wanted to celebrate a win.
“Coming a little bit short last year has only made this group hungrier and me hungrier. To win the league after such a long slog with your boyhood club would be everything, really.
“In the 12 months I’ve learnt a huge amount in terms of getting myself right mentally, and what I can give the team if I am right. Hopefully, I can show that on Saturday.”
Callum Smith is set to challenge Artur Beterbiev for the unified light heavyweight world titles in Canada on August 19.
Beterbiev currently possesses the WBC, WBO and IBF belts and will aim to defend them against challenger Smith in Quebec City.
Two-time Olympian Beterbiev enters the bout with a 100 per cent knockout ratio (19-0, 19 KOs), while Liverpool’s Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) is a former WBA super middleweight world champion.
“I’m excited to finally get my opportunity to become a two-weight world champion,” Smith said.
“I’m no stranger to fighting on away soil, having boxed in Saudi Arabia twice, across America, and now heading to Canada on August 19.
“There was no hesitation from me going to Canada to fight Artur Beterbiev, and I will be returning to Liverpool as a world champion once more.”
Beterbiev added: “Quebec is my second home, so I’m very happy to finally defend my titles on home turf.
“When you are world champion, everyone wants the opportunity to take your belt, and that’s especially true in my case, with three titles at stake.
“I’ve already started my training camp, and I’ll be ready to not only defend my belts, but to also put on an impressive show August 19.”
The Randox Grand National is to remain at its current start time of 5.15pm, despite the British Horseracing Authority launching a new ‘premier tier’ of racing between 2-4pm on Saturday afternoons.
The period between 2pm and 4pm will be restricted to three meetings, including up to two ‘premier’ cards, with other Saturday fixtures scheduled to start after the window ends or, on occasions, before it opens.
But racing’s “crown jewels” will take place outside the allotted ‘shop window’, with the Betfred Derby another due to be later than 4pm in 2024.
BHA chief executive Julie Harrington and Richard Wayman, chief operating officer, took questions from the press via Zoom following the announcement of the new strategy.
Wayman said of the National: “There will be certain Saturdays of the year, exceptional Saturdays, when the key race is not in the 2-4pm slot.
“In 48 or 49 Saturdays of the year that will be how it works, but there will be two or three others when we’ll have to be flexible and do something different, like for the Grand National and the Derby. We won’t stick rigidly to 2-4pm if the big race of the day is off at 5.15pm, so there will be some flexibility.”
Harington added: “Around the crown jewel fixtures we need to make sure we use our core fixtures to best advantage. So if we know there are people in betting shops on the morning of the Grand National there could be a live fixture for people to be betting on, so they are some of the innovations we are looking to do with the core fixtures.”
One afternoon in July that has caused much wringing of hands in the past is the so-called ‘Super Saturday’ which sees the July Cup at Newmarket, John Smith’s Cup at York, the Summer Mile at Ascot and a fixture at Chester, the latter now looking a prime candidate to be moved to either an earlier or later slot.
When asked if that day would now be a thing of the past Wayman said: “That would be a typical Group One Saturday when there would be three fixtures in the premier window. What would differ compared with currently is that the fourth fixture would not race between 2-4pm, it would have to move outside that window.
“There are financial incentives for some of those racecourses to stage a premier fixture on a different day, a Sunday for example, and that might be attractive and it might not, but if it isn’t it will still be different to what it is at the moment.”
He went on: “Premierisation will happen every Saturday, but most Saturdays there will just be a two-hour window when there will only be three fixtures, up to two will be premier fixtures. On a smaller number of Saturdays we will allow four fixtures in the two-hour window. Premierisation will exist 52 weeks of the year. Roughly two-thirds of Saturdays will have three fixtures in the protected window, we’ll look to do that on the bigger Saturdays.”
The key question among all this, though, is where is the extra money coming from?
Harrington replied: “Anybody who has been around this process for a lot of years realises the next phase is around funding proposals that are normally approved by September time. Underpinning this is higher minimum values for those premier races, we think it’s going to be around 10 per cent of the fixture list.
“We know that our funding is a blending of executive contribution and central funding and those new higher minimum values, I should anticipate, will be in the same way but we now need to work through with our colleagues at the racecourses and the Levy Board about how that is going to work.”
And will courses who lose Saturday afternoon slots be offered compensation?
“It is too early to say,” said Harrington. “The funding process every year is a really complex jigsaw to put together, but rest assured the discussions have already begun but it is underpinned that the premier tier will have enhanced levels of prize-money.”
The lack of quality on a Sunday has long been cristicised, and Harrington said a key aim of the BHA is to improve it.
“In the past racing has tried to get a quality product going on a Sunday before, but we need the whole sport to take a more strategic view. Potentially there will be incentives put in place to fill those slots,” she said.
Wayman added: “There has been a general reluctance for commercial reasons to move to Sundays, but one of the things we see changing in 2024 is the opportunity to stage premier fixtures and all that comes with that, which could involve different funding which may provide greater incentive to move to a Sunday than they have had in the past.
“It might not be sufficient for all courses to race on a Sunday as their business model is just not going to work. However, there are a number of courses who stage some decent fixtures on a Sunday that with further investment could be even better, Pontefract for example.”
Crucially, can the BHA give any guarantees that premierisation will work?
“Like most industry strategies it is based on a set of assumptions, but they have not been plucked out of the air,” said Harrington.
“It has been helpful having open relationships with media rights companies, racecourses and bookmakers around the hard facts of the revenues coming in at the moment. What is absolutely important is that we don’t take a one-year view of this because if you did you wouldn’t do anything. We’ve got to remember the aim is to produce a more attractive product.
“While we may lose some attendance revenue on a Saturday afternoon it is more than offset by growing off-course revenues because we know that we cannibalise our own revenue within that Saturday afternoon slot. We need a multi-year approach and to be brave.”
Birthday boy Geraint Thomas strengthened his grip on the leader’s pink jersey as Filippo Zana left Thibaut Pinot with a broken heart once again on stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia.
Thomas was able to follow a late move from Primoz Roglic on the approach to Val di Zoldo as Joao Almeida dropped back, and the two then worked together to keep the Portuguese behind and take 20 seconds out of him, enough to see Roglic move up to second.
With one mountain stage to come and a mountainous time trial before Sunday’s finale in Rome, Thomas leads by 29 seconds from Roglic with Almeida 39 seconds in arrears.
“It was a decent day,” Thomas said. “To gain time on Almeida and not get dropped by Primoz, it was a good day, a solid day for sure. I felt pretty good, pretty in control.
“Primoz, he likes to go hard, then take it easy, then go hard. I gave him a few turns, then I wasn’t sure how he was feeling. In the last two kilometres he really squeezed on it again, he was super strong, but I was pretty happy with how it was.
“Obviously it’s nice (to gain time) but Primoz had a bad day the other day and Almeida did today. I’ve just got to keep being consistent day by day, climb by climb.”
The pink jersey crossed the line a little under two minutes after Italian champion Zana sprinted clear of Pinot, who for a second time in a week came within a few metres of a first career Giro stage win in his final appearance in the race.
The leading duo had been part of a six-strong breakaway group who were allowed an advantage of up to six minutes on the 161km stage from Oderzo, but eyes were always further back on the first of the mountainous trio of stages that will decide who wears pink in Rome.
Thomas, donning the leader’s jersey on his 37th birthday as he aims to become the race’s oldest ever winner, was clearly in confident mood as his Ineos Grenadiers team-mates drilled the pace on the front of the peloton.
They quickly shed several riders as the road ramped up inside the final 30 kilometres, first on the Forcella Cibiana, then on the steep slopes of the Forno di Zoldo.
There were question marks over Roglic’s form after he lost time on Tuesday’s stage 16 – a day when Almeida and Thomas rode away – but as they neared the top of the penultimate climb he showed his hand as Jumbo-Visma team-mate Sepp Kuss guided him to the front to launch an attack.
Thomas was quicky on his wheel but Almeida dropped back. Jay Vine did his best to guide his UAE Emirates team-mate back but could not fully close the gap after running wide on the short descent into the two kilometre climb to the finish, leaving Almeida to chase alone.
Irishman Eddie Dunbar finished just behind Almeida to move up to fourth overall, adding to the celebrations for the Jayco-Alula team after Zana’s victory.
While there was still no stage win for Pinot, similarly left frustrated on stage 13 last week, the Frenchman at least moved up to seventh overall, four minutes 43 seconds down.
British number one Cameron Norrie continued his solid run in the Lyon Open with victory over sixth seed Sebastian Baez to reach the semi-finals.
The defending champion secured a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 victory in his quarter-final clash with Baez, who he defeated at the same stage in last year’s competition.
A strong third set saw Norrie reach the semis in Lyon for a fourth time and he was pleased with his confidence going into that decider.
“The second set he came back strong, he was winning the tougher games like I was in the first set,” Norrie told the ATP website.
“I tried to reset and came out with a lot of energy.
“I have won a lot of three-set matches this year, so I had a lot of confidence going into the decider and I thought it was a solid match.”
The victory sets up a semi-final against Francisco Cerundolo, who defeated Norrie’s fellow Briton Jack Draper 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.
Lewis Hamilton denied he has been offered a contract by Ferrari and expects to sign a new Mercedes deal “in the coming weeks”.
Hamilton’s future in the sport is under the spotlight with just six months to run on his current £40million-a-year deal.
It was reported the build-up to this week’s Monaco Grand Prix that Ferrari are preparing a bid to land Hamilton in a blockbuster transfer.
But when asked on Thursday if the Italian giants had been in touch, Hamilton replied: “No. When you are in contract negotiations there is always going to be speculation, and unless you hear it from me that is all it is.
“My team is working closely behind the scenes with [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff], and we are almost at the end of having a contract ready.
“This is the first time that I have not been negotiating myself. I have a great team in the background that does the work and I focus on the job on hand.
“I say what I want and that is what we are working towards so hopefully in the coming weeks [it will be decided].”
Hamilton, 38, will get his first taste of a major Mercedes upgrade in practice on Friday which the seven-time world champion hopes will haul him up the grid.
Hamilton qualified 13th at the last race in Miami before driving well to finish sixth, but he is already 63 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the championship standings.
However, Hamilton insisted Mercedes’ dethroning as kings of the Formula One road will not impact his decision to re-sign with the Brackley side.
“We are still a championship-winning team,” added the British driver. “We have just had the wrong car, and there have been decisions that have been made over the past two years that have not been ideal. We are working our way through that.
“We have a new upgrade this weekend. The team have worked incredibly hard to bring this upgrade to this race after we decided that was the direction we wanted to take.
“Although this is not the best track to see it come to fruition, we will hopefully get a better experience of that at the next race.”
Novak Djokovic is on a collision course with world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open semi-finals.
At the draw in Paris, Djokovic, seeded third, was pulled out in the same half as the US Open champion from Spain, meaning they could meet in a blockbuster last-four showdown.
Alcaraz won their only other previous meeting, in Madrid last year.
Two-time winner Djokovic, looking for a 23rd grand slam title, faces American Aleksandar Kovacevic in the first round.
Alcaraz, 20, and second seed Daniil Medvedev will begin their campaigns against qualifiers.
British number one Cameron Norrie takes on unpredictable Frenchman Benoit Paire, and he could run into Alcaraz in the fourth round.
Dan Evans faces a tough opener against Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis and Jack Draper meets Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.
They are the only three British players in the main draw at Roland Garros after Kyle Edmund, who has been beset by knee problems for the past two years, withdrew due to a wrist injury.
Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu pulled out earlier this month, while six British women lost in the qualifying rounds.
In the women’s draw, 2022 champion Iga Swiatek will begin her title defence against Spanish world number 67 Cristina Bucsa.
The world number one could face Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, seeded fourth, in the semi-finals.
Second seed and Aryna Sabalenka will face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the opening round.
Last year’s runner-up Coco Gauff starts against former French Open junior champion Rebeka Masarova of Spain.
Third seed Jessica Pegula and last year’s Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins meet in an all-American clash, and two-time grand slam winner Victoria Azarenka takes on 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
Art Power returns to the Curragh on Saturday looking to make it a perfect four wins from four trips to Ireland in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes.
Tim Easterby’s six-year-old made his Irish debut immediately after winning the inaugural Palace of Holyrood House Handicap at Royal Ascot as a three-year-old, and the journey was rewarded when he was a comfortable winner of the Lacken Stakes at Naas.
Since then he has twice won another Group Three, the Renaissance Stakes at the Curragh, and both times he did it in style again, by five lengths on the first occasion and by three lengths the second. He has started odds on every time, so punters in Ireland certainly have his measure, and on the latter occasion he had one of Saturday’s rivals, Ano Syra, well held in fourth.
The target at the Curragh this weekend is an even bigger prize and Easterby is looking forward to the Group Two challenge.
“He’s a super horse and he didn’t run too bad at York last week on his reappearance, where he was just a bit fresh and free on his first run since he was gelded (eighth in Duke of York Stakes).
“I don’t know if gelding will benefit him or not, but we were struggling to find him a place at stud and so we decided to cut him and race him on, as he’s a grand horse with great limbs on him, and he always runs well in the big sprints.
“I’d imagine it will be decent ground there, but he’s fine on fast ground too and he’s very well.
“He’s run some super races in Group Ones and he’s been a bit unlucky, as he’s been drawn badly or raced on the wrong side, or that kind of thing. He always runs well.”
Easterby has a tremendous record in Ireland, and added: “We’ve been very lucky over there, but we don’t send them unless they have a good chance. The first winner there was Bally Pride in a sales race, and I remember that one very well as I owned a share in him. I had a bad head the next day!
“We won a few years later with Fayr Jag, the same afternoon that Bollin Eric ran in the Irish St Leger and wasn’t seen to best advantage, and we’ve also won there with Golden Nun and Mattmu before Art Power.”
Also travelling to Ireland is Garrus, another who maintains his form and enthusiasm particularly well, as demonstrated by last month’s Group Three win from Commanche Falls and Creative Force in Newmarket’s Abernant Stakes.
Charlie Hills would love to add a first Group Two win to the seven-year-old’s CV, and this looks an ideal opportunity. He said: “We were very pleased with his win in the Abernant and he seems in good form still, so he goes there with a live chance.
“I think he comes out top on the official ratings, and he quite likes the quicker ground. The stiffish track should help too, and we’ve booked Ryan Moore, who rode him at Newmarket, so it’s all very positive.”
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