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>The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown saga is officially over – finally. The AFC North franchise put the final touches on a trade that sent Brown to the Oakland Raiders. Sure, the actual trade occurred over a month ago, but the Steelers finally cashed in picks from the Oakland Raiders. In the trade for Brown, the Steelers received a third and a fifth-round pick. So, who did Pittsburgh draft with those selections? Well, the Steelers seem to have found a replacement for Antonio Brown by drafting Toledo wide receiver Diontae Johnson – who, ironically, was compared to Brown in the pre-draft process. Pittsburgh also landed former Michigan tight end Zach Gentry with the fifth-round pick from the Raiders. Antonio Brown Raiders-Steelers trade is now complete: 💥Raiders get Antonio Brown. 💥Steelers get Toledo WR Diontae Johnson and Michigan TE Zach Gentry. — Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 27, 2019 The trade with the Raiders also gave the Steelers an opportunity to trade up for star linebacker Devin Bush in the first round. With an early third-round pick in hand, Pittsburgh felt comfortable losing a second-round pick this year for the chance to fill a major hole at middle linebacker. The Raiders and Steelers will now move forward with their respective trade hauls. But who won the trade? We’ll have to wait to find out. Stay tuned for the latest from the final day of the draft.<doc-sep>The Pittsburgh Steelers traded wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders for a third round and fifth-round draft pick. We got to see the trade come to fruition this week with the picks Pittsburgh made. With the two picks, Pittsburgh landed wide receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Zach Gentry. Johnson was the third round pick and Gentry the fifth. On paper, this doesn’t look like anything approaching value for one of the best players in the NFL. Gentry is likely a practice squad player in 2019 and Johnson is going to be part of a very crowded wide receiver unit. Nevertheless, I know you don’t judge these players before they ever step on the field. And we also understand getting Brown off the roster, regardless of the compensation was a win in a sense. But I’m fine with being definitive about this now. There’s no way the Steelers will get anything close to the value of what Brown brought on the field with Johnson and Gentry. In fact, don’t be shocked if Gentry doesn’t even make the final roster this season. Gallery Here is your Steelers' 2019 draft class View 9 photos<doc-sep>Getty Images The Steelers have used both of the draft picks acquired from the Raiders for wide receiver Antonio Brown. The team selected tight end Zach Gentry with the 141st overall pick during the sixth round on Saturday afternoon. They took wide receiver Diontae Johnson with the No. 66 pick on Friday night. Johnson’s selection will help the team fill the hole left by Brown in the receiving corps while Gentry will be part of the Jesse James-less future at tight end. James signed with the Lions as a free agent last month. The 6’8″ Gentry came to Michigan as a quarterback, but moved to tight end after redshirting as a freshman. He caught 49 passes for 817 yards and four touchdowns for the Wolverines over the last two seasons.<doc-sep>
Heading into the NFL Draft, general manager Mike Mayock mentioned that the Raiders would be looking to swing a trade, and he did just that to start off Friday night. With the Raiders on the clock at 35th overall, the Raider swung a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars to move back three spots. The Raiders sent the 35th, the 140th, and 235th overall picks to the Jaguars and received the 38th and 109th picks in return. The Jaguars used this selection to add offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor out of the University of Florida. He has previously mentioned that his favorite selections in the draft generally fall between the end of the first and the beginning of the third round. This area is where he really believes that teams find great success, but the Raiders won't have many opportunities to make these selections, barring a trade. Well, that's not out of the question for the Raiders GM. “Sure. I mean like I said earlier, we move up, we move back," Mayock said during his pre-draft press conference. "Personally, you just heard me say how much I love 20 to 60. I’d love to get a couple more picks in there. I just think we have a lot of holes that need to be filled. I think that’s a really good place to go fishing. If we can, we can. But the other cool thing is if we just do nothing but sit there and go 4, 24, 27 and 35. What we keep talking about upstairs is we better four foundation football players. We define foundation as talent and football character. That’s what we want, guys who love the game. If we don’t move up, down or anywhere, we better get four of those guys.” With the NFL being so competitive, the Raiders have to find ways to quickly improve on a daily basis. Part of this is making the right moves in free agency, which is why Mayock and Gruden brought Trenton Brown, Brandon Marshall, Tyrell Williams, and other veterans to Oakland. The other aspect is bringing the right youngsters into the building via the draft. Mayock faces a great deal of pressure in his first-ever draft as a GM, and he will have to nail every pick. This task will be made more difficult by the lack of a third-round selection. With the new selections in tow, the Raiders will now look to add even more playmakers for to this roster. Picking up a star cornerback is a priority, as well as adding a competitor on the offensive line. One dark horse candidate for a selection would be tight end. The Raiders have a need after Jared Cook departed for the New Orleans Saints. The NFL Draft continues with the second and third rounds. Will the Raiders continue to trade?