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WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011 PAGE 7B
FRENCH OPEN
American Isner pushes Nadal to limit By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer
PARIS — It’s newsworthy enough when anyone manages to win a set against Rafael Nadal at any stage of the French Open — let alone two sets in the first round. So a buzz built at Roland Garros on Tuesday when unseeded American John Isner pulled ahead of five-time champion Nadal by unfurling his 6-foot-9 frame to pound serves at upward of 140 mph, pushing up to the net time after time for volleys, and generally making the Spaniard uncomfortable for stretches. “Quite clearly,” Nadal acknowledged later, “this is a match that I could have lost.” In the end, he did not. Stretched to five sets for the first time in 40 career French Open matches, Nadal came back to emerge with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Isner and reach the second round.
“Really, what it came down to is the way he played in the fourth and fifth sets,” Isner said. “I haven’t seen tennis like that, ever.” It was the most riveting match of a day that featured reigning U.S. Open and Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters’ first appearance at the French Open since 2006, a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova. Also advancing were Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling and Sam Querrey. Two seeded women lost: No. 20 Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 champion, was eliminated 7-6 (3), 0-6, 6-2 by Johanna Larsson of Sweden, while No. 22 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia was beaten 6-7 (10), 6-3, 6-2 by Vania King of the United States. No. 11 Nicolas Almagro departed with a five-set loss to Lukasz Kubot of Poland. Nadal’s bid to tie Bjorn Borg’s record of six championships at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament nearly came to a too-abrupt-to-believe halt.
Consider: — Nadal entered the day 38-1 at the French Open, his only loss coming to two-time finalist Soderling in the fourth round in 2009. — Isner’s career in Paris before Tuesday? One first-round exit and one trip to the third round, for a 2-2 record. — Nadal is ranked No. 1 and owns nine Grand Slam titles. — Isner is ranked 39th and never has been past the fourth at a major tournament. He’s best known to date for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set at Wimbledon last year, and setting a record with113 aces in that marathon. — Until the first of Tuesday’s two tiebreakers, Nadal hadn’t lost a single set at the French Open since 2009. And he hadn’t lost a set in any of 12 previous first- or second-round matches in the tournament. So all seemed rather ho-hum when Nadal was leading Isner by a set and a
break at 4-2 in the second. But Isner broke back to 4-all when Nadal missed a forehand, and suddenly, a tight match ensued. “That’s when I started to sort of believe a little bit more,” Isner said, “and started to play with more confidence and strut around more out there.” Even Nadal was a bit worried. So was Toni Nadal, Rafael’s coach and uncle, who would later say that from his perch in the stands he felt “very, very nervous, because losing in the first round is not too good for us.” But his nephew steeled himself, and made zero — yes, that’s right, zero — unforced errors in the fourth set, while Isner made12. Nadal broke Isner for a 2-1 edge in the fourth set, and called that “the turning point.” Isner’s coach, Craig Boynton, agreed. “Rafa getting up an early break in the fourth really helped his psyche,” Boynton said. Nadal broke for a 2-1 lead in the fifth
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Defending champion Rafael Nadal celebrates after defeating John Isner in their first round match of the French Open on Tuesday.
set, too, thanks in part to a cross-court backhand return winner, a forehand return winner, and a backhand return at the feet of the net-charging Isner. Uncle Toni greeted each with a yell of “Vamos!” “Fantastic game for me,” Nadal said. “I played my best game of the match.”
WOODS
N B A P L AYO F F S
Lightning head to Game 6 confident
Continued from Page 1B
By FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer
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Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (1) puts up a shot as a Miami defender falls to the floor during Game 4 of the Easter Conference Finals in Miami.
James, Bosh, Wade carry Heat over Chicago
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer
MIAMI — Dwyane Wade was ailing, so LeBron James and Chris Bosh more than picked up the slack. Then Wade found his groove at the perfect time, and the Miami Heat, the team put together solely to win championships, moved one emotional victory away from the NBA finals. James scored 35 points, Bosh added 22 and the Heat overcame an early 11-point deficit to beat the Chicago Bulls 101-93 on Tuesday night, taking a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. Game 5 is Thursday in Chicago, when the Heat can wrap up their first finals trip since 2006. Wade went scoreless for nearly 33 straight minutes, before making a jumper with 2:08 left in overtime to help Miami keep the lead. And after James made a contested jumper with 29 seconds remaining for a six-point lead, Wade soared to block Derrick Rose’s layup from out of almost nowhere on the next Chicago possession. At long last, it was over. Bosh scored the first four points of overtime, and the Heat — now 8-0 at home in the playoffs — never trailed in the extra session. James closed it with two free throws with 1.4 seconds left, his 12th and 13th of the night, all without a miss. Bosh was 10 for
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11 from the line, and Miami outscored Chicago 32-17 in that department. The Heat made their final 24 free throws. Rose scored 23 points for the Bulls, who got 20 apiece from Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer. Chicago has lost three straight games for the first time this season. But what this game will be remembered for was how the Heat rallied around Wade — then watched him save his best for the very end. The 2006 NBA finals MVP was in the arena late Monday night, trying to work on some things in one of his customary playoff after-dark sessions. Sometimes it works. Some-
times it doesn’t. This seemed like it would be the latter. Whatever answer he sought, he didn’t find for much of Game 4. Wade made just 5 of 16 shots from the field, lacking his usual lift at the rim. He made a pair of free throws with 1:50 left in the first half for his seventh and eighth points, and didn’t score again until overtime. Better late than never. That was just the start for the Heat. Chicago turned the ball over on its next two possessions, Wade turned the second of those into a layup with 1:01 left for a 9589 lead, and the Heat soon knew they were one win away from the title round. Mike Miller scored 12 for Mia-
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mi. The fourth quarter was pure theater, both teams clearly knowing — clearly relishing — the stakes. Miami scored the first seven points for a 70-69 lead. Chicago took the lead back on a pair of free throws by Rose with 6:34 left, and Miami answered with a four-point possession — two free throws by Bosh after a flagrant foul against Boozer, followed by Miller making a jumper over Rose for a 78-77 edge.
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TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning are once again hitching their hopes of blocking Boston’s path to the Stanley Cup finals on goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Down 3-2 to the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals, coach Guy Boucher said the 41-year-old Roloson is “the guy that took us here,” so he’ll be in net for Game 6 when the Lightning try to even the best-of-seven series on Wednesday night. The Bruins are one victory away from their first Stanley Cup appearance in 21 years after beating Roloson’s backup, Mike Smith, in Game 5. Boucher opted to give Smith his first career playoff start after pulling Roloson from two of the previous three games against the Bruins, saying he felt the veteran whose acquisition in January was critical to Tampa Bay’s turnaround season needed a “breather.” Although Smith was solid during Monday’s night’s 3-1 loss that left the Lightning on the brink of elimination, Boucher sounded as though it was an easy decision to go back to Roloson. “This is a perfect situation. He’s going to be the only rested guy in the two teams,” Boucher said Tuesday, noting Roloson has responded well to breaks this season. “He’s like everybody else. He’s one of the hardest working guys on our team. He puts in a lot of hours and a lot of time,” the Lightning coach added. “And he’s like everybody else, at some point or another just needs to breathe a little bit.” Smith shut down Boston after Roloson fell behind 3-0 in the opening period of Game 4, giving Tampa Bay a chance to rally for a 5-3 victory. He stopped 17 of 19 shots Monday night, with the Bruins’ adding an empty net goal in the closing seconds of a win that that has Boston on the brink of reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1990. The Bruins said regardless of who’s in goal for the Lightning, they must remain focused on how they must play to finish the task. “We know and we can play better than we did (in Game 5) and that’s the positive you can take out of a win. Knowing that we’re a team that plays better than we showed,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
Woods said he was more worried about his health in 2008. “I’m a lot better off,” Woods said. “I feel that in the next week or so, I can start getting back toward that and start practicing pain free. That’s where I’m at. Woods spoke Tuesday at Aronimink Golf Club to promote the upcoming AT&T National. Woods withdrew after only nine holes this month at The Players Championship. He also fell out of the top 10 rankings for the first time in 14 years. He has been No. 1 for 623 weeks in his career, by far the longest of any golfer since the rankings began in 1986. He had been No. 1 from June 2005 until Lee Westwood of England supplanted him last November. “I haven’t played. It’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen as far as I have,” Woods said. “When I did play, I haven’t played well. Winning takes care of all of that.” He acknowledged he did come back too early for The Players Championship. He hurt himself on the opening tee shot at Sawgrass. Woods’ status was borderline for the tournament to begin with, but he pressed on and did further damage. He won’t risk additional injury to the leg. “It’d certainly be nice to come up here and play practice rounds,” he said, “and do all the other prep I do for the majors.” Not a chance this week, even on a gorgeous Tuesday. Woods posted on Twitter that he would donate $1 million to his foundation if no reporters asked him about his leg. There was no chance of that on the very first question. Woods later posted on Twitter he would donate the money anyway.
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