The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>DeMarcus Cousins was called for a technical foul for tossing a rogue sneaker off the court during the Golden State Warriors victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, but that tech has now been rescinded. NBA has rescinded DeMarcus Cousins' technical from last night. Players generally aren't allowed to toss a shoe off the floor, but DeMarcus did it to avoid an injury to himself and others — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 26, 2019 The sneaker - which had come off the foot of one of the Hornets players - was hanging out near the elbow, where it was in danger of being stepped on. Cousins picked it up and tossed it into the sideline courtside seat. He was immediately T’d up by a referee who believed the act had been malicious, rather than for safety. Cousins was justifiably upset. This is, after all, a player who lost out on roughly $150 million because of a lower body injury he sustained a year ago. You can be sure he has no interest in taking the risk of stepping on a large shoe and hurting himself once again. And he said as much after the game, sarcastically stating that “next time I’ll just step on the shoe and roll my ankle, break it, tear an Achilles.” Demarcus Cousins was not happy after getting a tech late in the 4th quarter for throwing a shoe off the court. pic.twitter.com/hEF5zVBANu — ESPN (@espn) February 26, 2019 It’s obviously a very good thing that the league decided to rescind the technical. Boogie didn’t toss the shoe violently or deep into the stands - players need to be able to keep a clear and safe court, and certainly shouldn’t be punished for that.<doc-sep>The NBA has decided to rescind a technical foul called against Golden State Warriors' big man DeMarcus Cousins during Monday night's 121-110 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Cousin was hit with a 'T' with 4 minutes and 51 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, after he picked up Jeremy Lamb's shoe, which was lying near the free throw line, and tossed it into the crowd. As a result of today's ruling, Cousins still has five technicals for the season. The NBA fines players $2,000 for every technical they accumulate through five, but increased the penalty to $3,000 for technicals 6-10 and ups it to $4,000 for 11-15. A 16th tech in the regular season results in a $5,000 fine and a one-game suspension, but the counter resets for the playoffs. "Next time I'll just step on the shoe and roll my ankle, break it, tear an Achilles," Cousins said after the game (H/T ESPN). "Just leave it out there next time. I guess that's what they want. I'll keep that in mind." Steph Curry joked that Cousins needs to treat any discarded shoes like he's playing horseshoes. "He's got to be a little bit more delicate throwing it to the sideline -- like horseshoes," Curry said (H/T ESPN), "Just got to touch the line and sit down, not throw it in the stands. He's too strong, that's all. Too strong." Despite the shoe debacle, Boogie had his best game since returning to action on January 18. He finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks, as the Warriors improved to a Western Conference-best 43-17.<doc-sep>The NBA has rescinded a technical foul assess on DeMarcus Cousins for throwing the loose shoe of Jeremy Lamb off the floor. The league has been cautious about objects flying into the stands, but upon further review, the league decided against the extra punishment for Cousins. Cousins, who was defending in the area, picked up the shoe with his right hand and tossed it to the sideline. He was whistled for a technical foul by official Brian Forte right after the shoe flew out of bounds. "Next time I'll just step on the shoe and roll my ankle, break it, tear an Achilles," Cousins said after the game. "Just leave it out there next time. I guess that's what they want. I'll keep that in mind."<doc-sep>
Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins is no stranger to receiving technical fouls and he added to his total for the 2018-19 campaign on Monday night during his team's win over the Charlotte Hornets in an interesting fashion. While Cousins typically receives these sort of penalties for the way he reacts to calls that come against him over the course of a game, Monday night he received a technical foul for something much less severe as he was hit with the call after throwing a shoe which had come off of the foot of Hornets guard Jeremy Lamb out of the way of the action on the hardwood. As you can see from the video clip above, Cousins immediately took issue with the call during his time with the media following the final buzzer as he maintained his actions were simply a means to avoid suffering a potential injury. "Next time I'll just step on the shoe and roll my ankle, break it, tear an Achilles," Cousins said to reporters after the game. "Just leave it out there next time. I guess that's what they want. I'll keep that in mind." Fortunately, the NBA appears to be in agreement with Cousins after reviewing the play as the league has reportedly rescinded the technical foul which was called against the big man which will not only save him from the fine he would have faced but take one technical foul off of the number he will carry through the rest of the regular season schedule.