07-25-2016, 03:26 AM
PARIS -- This is what Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic wanted. Truitje Kevin De Bruyne . Its what they expected. And now theyll meet in a French Open final with so much at stake for both. Nadal is seeking championship No. 9 at Roland Garros, and his 14th major title overall. Djokovic is hoping to finally conquer the French Open and complete a career Grand Slam. Fittingly, whoever wins the rivals 42nd head-to-head meeting Sunday will be ranked No. 1 on Monday; the runner-up will be No. 2. "He has the motivation to win Roland Garros for the first time, for sure. But at the same time, he has the pressure to win for the first time," Nadal said. "I have the pressure that I want to win -- and the motivation that I want to win -- the ninth." In Fridays semifinals, the No. 1-seeded Nadal was at his imperious, and nearly immaculate, best in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Wimbledon champion Andy Murray that lasted all of 100 minutes. Nadal never faced a break point, converted all six he earned, and whipped his uppercut of a forehand as only he can. Toni Nadal, Rafaels uncle and coach, called the match "one of the best that he has ever played here." Thats sure saying something. Tonis nephew is 65-1 at the clay-court tournament and carries a 34-match winning streak into the final. The thick, grey clouds and chill that became a staple these two weeks gave way to sunshine and warmth Friday, and Nadal reveled in it. "For me, is much better when the weather is like today," he said. "My ball creates more topspin. The ball goes quicker in the air, and with my forehand I am able to create more with less." All in all, Nadal made Murray look rather lost. "You want to be competitive. You want to make it hard for him," Murray said. "I wasnt able to do that." The No. 2-seeded Djokovics semifinal was only slightly less perfunctory, a 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over 18th-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia that came first Friday, when the temperature hit 82 degrees (28 Celsius). Wrapping a cold towel around his neck during changeovers, Djokovic was brilliant through two sets, then faltered in the third, showing frustration by spiking a racket so hard he mangled it. Djokovic has made no secret of the importance he places on a French Open title to add to the six majors hes won -- four at the Australian Open, one each at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. "Obviously, Novak would like to win the one he is missing," said Djokovics coach, Marian Vajda. "So all these hopes ... make him more tense than usually you see him. But I think this match helped him to release it." Afterward, Djokovic said he felt "physically fatigued a little bit" and was looking forward to resting until Sunday, when the forecast predicts similar heat but also a chance of rain. No two men in the Open era, which began in 1968, faced each other as often as these two. Nadal leads 22-19 overall, 8-3 at majors, and 5-0 in the French Open -- including victories over Djokovic in the 2012 final and 2013 semifinals. But Djokovic won their last four matchups, including on clay in the final at Rome last month, which the Serb said boosted his belief in himself. Still, Djokovic conceded, "I dont know how much upper hand I have, really. ... There is no doubt that he is the favourite to win the title." Nadals take? "Probably he will come to the match mentally a little bit better than me because he beat me the last four," said the Spaniard, who won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open twice each, and the Australian Open once, and can tie Pete Sampras at 14 major titles, behind only Roger Federers record for men of 17. "But at the same time, my feeling is I am doing the things better, and I am playing better again." Nadal arrived at Roland Garros dealing with some doubts. There were the three losses on clay in 2014. There was the pain in his back that resurfaced early last week, leading to a dip in his serve speeds and prompting him to wear vertical strips of tape under his shirt for support. By Friday evening, all was well. His back felt fine. His serves had zip. His forehand was fearsome. The sun was shining. And now Djokovic awaits. http://www.voetbalbelgieshop.com/belgie-...hadli.html . - Winning could hurt Tampa Bays chances of landing the No. Truitje Rode Duivels Kevin De Bruyne . -- His voice cracking with emotion, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice acknowledged Friday that he "failed miserably" and apologized for the actions that led to his arrest on assault charges.VANCOUVER - The Dallas Stars are riding a late-season surge to make the playoffs and need a win on the road over the Western Conference leaders. And Richard Bachman, their rookie goalie, is facing a penalty shot a few seconds after the opening face-off. No pressure, right? Bachman stood his ground against Zack Kassian and saw the puck dribble off the Canuck rookies stick, then settled in and backstopped the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division. "Starting off with a penalty shot to warm up is never what you want to see as a goalie," said the 24-year-old Salt Lake City native with 16 NHL games under his belt. "Once that was done it kind of helped settle me in and after the first period I really got comfortable," Bachman said. It was only his second start ahead of Kari Lehtonen in 17 games, and he remained poised even after giving up the games first goal. "I guess I fooled you guys," Bachman said when told he appeared pretty calm after he misplayed a shoot-in leading to another early chance by Henrik Sedin. "In the first period I actually felt some jitters. It was the first NHL game I started in Canada. The atmosphere was amazing." The lack of recent playing time didnt seem to faze Bachman, who improved to 8-3-1. "You may not get too many more (starts)," he said after Dallas won for the seventh time in eight games. "Its come ready and have fun with it." Mike Ribeiro scored twice to give the Stars 2-1 and 4-2 leads. Loui Eriksson started the comeback late in the second period, Jamie Benn got what proved to be the winner and Stephane Robidas scored into an empty net. Chris Higgins opened the scoring 26 minutes 45 seconds into what began as a tight-checking contest. Alex Edler drew the Canucks to within a goal at 3-2 with a shot that deflected behind Bachman off a defenders stick. Dallas (36-26-5) swept a three-game Western Canada road trip and ended a string of five losses on Vancouver ice to continue a drive for a first Western Conference playoff berth since 2008. The Canucks (41-18-8) lost ground in their bid for the NHLs overall lead by dropping their second game in a row at home. Vancouver also lost a second straight game in regulation for the first time since early November to fall a point behind St. Louis in the Western Conference. The ever-patient Stars capitalized on odd-man rushes and Vancouver defensive zone turnovers. Ribeiro scored with 23 seconds remaining in the ssecond period and less than three minutes after Eriksson counted his fifth goal in six games. http://www.voetbalbelgieshop.com/belgie-...origi.html. . "Well take that," Ribeiro said of the late goals. "We won a lot of battles along the boards. We chipped the puck. Theyre a team that likes to pinch and we were able to win those battles and create two-on-ones. "Most of the time teams will break or make a mistake and you can score and we just stuck with it." Benn had several close calls around Canuck netminder Roberto Luongo but finally produced what proved to be the game-winner as Dallas came from behind to beat Vancouver for the second straight game. "I was just unlucky but it was good to get that one," the Victoria native said after Steve Ott created a Canuck turnover. "It was a big goal." Sedin, the former scoring champion whos mired in a season-high six-game pointless drought, said the Canucks had plenty of chances but paid for defensive breakdowns. "We made a few mistakes but had enough chances to win the game," Sedin said after his club fired 31 shots on Bachman. "The breakdowns we had turned into goals for them. "There comes a time when creating chances isnt good enough. You have to score goals to win games." The number of giveaways wasnt lost on Luongo, who made 24 saves. "Obviously thats not the type of hockey we want to be playing," he said. "Luckily they didnt connect on most of them. "A lot of their goals came from right around the goalmouth. I dont know what to make of it." Daniel Sedin, who has only an assist to show for his last six games, said the Canucks need to stay positive. "Its tough when you lose and youre not contributing," he said. "Weve done some things over the last few years and we cant really panic, just keep working hard." Working hard with no passengers has been the key to Dallass late-season run, Bachman said. "Every guy looks the same out there. Everyones doing the little things, getting pucks deep. Were getting timely goal-scoring from some of our big players. "Everythings kind of come together at the right time and the biggest thing is just hard work." Notes: The Stars lost Daley for most of the first period when Burrows fell on him during a goalmouth scrum. ... Vancouver outscored the Stars 20-5 in winning all four games between the clubs last season. ... Their four meetings this campaign are compressed into a 34-day period. ... The Canucks play a franchise-record 11 home games in March. 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