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>Kanter has also publicly addressed political issues in his native Turkey, and his criticism of the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has left him something of a man without a country. Kanter will add depth to a Portland team that currently holds the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. The Blazers, who already had Evan Turner and Seth Curry contributing off the bench, have added two prominent pieces, Kanter and Rodney Hood, a small forward acquired in a trade with Cleveland last week. Kanter’s play did not decline appreciably this season, but with the Knicks committed to a youth movement — and to keeping their win total low in pursuit of the No. 1 pick in the draft — there was no place for a productive center whose contract was set to expire at the end of this season. After acquiring DeAndre Jordan to help with the development of the rookie center Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks were unable to find a taker for Kanter, so they released him. Kanter had publicly complained about his treatment by the Knicks, but he wrote an open letter to fans after his release on Feb. 7, saying the team had always made him feel at home and that New York would always have “a special place in my heart.” Knicks Coach David Fizdale, who did not play Kanter in six of his last eight games with the team, said last week that he thought the decision to part ways could be good for Kanter.<doc-sep>The Portland Trail Blazers landed big man Enes Kanter, reaching an agreement on a deal that will keep him in Portland through the rest of the 2018-19 season and bolster the Blazers’ bench for a push to reach new heights in this year’s playoffs. While players in the buyout market aren’t usually top tier talent, Kanter brings both reliable interior scoring and rebounding to a team that can use it. Likely coming off the bench, Kanter will bring averages of 14 points and 10.5 rebounds a game to Portland. He was solid with the Knicks offensively this season, but drew a lot of criticism for being a liability on the defensive end. But while many fans in Portland seem to be excited about the move, others have questions about how he might fit into the rotation and how head coach Terry Stotts might struggle to keep everyone happy with their roles on this team. With that in mind, here’s a look at what Trail Blazers fans, local media, national basketball writers and NBA players are saying about the Trail Blazers signing of Enes Kanter: ENES KANTER, LETS GOOOOO — Evan Turner (@thekidet) February 13, 2019 Solid job of hitting singles for Portland in the last 10 days. The Trail Blazers have turned Wade Baldwin/Nik Stauskas into Rodney Hood and now Enes Kanter on the buyout market. — Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 13, 2019 The Celtics, Rockets, Lakers and Nets all wanted Kanter. This is a significant signing for the Blazers. They’re never a legit player in the buyout market. I’m impressed. — Jared Cowley (@jaredcowley) February 13, 2019 Kanter a strong rebounder with some post moves. Defense is a weak point, but it's not like the buyout market is flooded with blue chip assets. This is a good signing by Portland. — David MacKay (@DavidMacKayNBA) February 13, 2019 The Kanter and Hood moves show a push to go deep in the playoffs this season, something we've wanted Olshey to go out on a limb and do. The silver lining: Blazers only lost 2 non-rotation players and a 2nd round pick for them — Nate Mann (@nate_mann13) February 13, 2019 Kanter signing is the rare unqualified success for the Blazers. No downsides whatsoever. — Eric Griffith (@EricG_NBA) February 13, 2019 Kanter has his flaws, but in a bench role, he can be a positive for a Blazers team with a bench unit that struggles to score. Especially on the road. https://t.co/AXcjslZeCl — Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) February 13, 2019 Kanter doesn’t need Dame to facilitate in order to score, so he’s perfect for the 2nd unit. Given that they now have a focal point for scoring in the 2nd unit, I think they should move Jake Layman to the starting lineup or at least have him play more of his minutes with Nurk/Dame — Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) February 13, 2019 There will likely be some feelings hurt in the process, but Stotts has to do what’s best for winning. To me, Dame, CJ, Nurk, Chief, Layman, Kanter, Hood, ET are the top 8. Everyone else should just play based on match ups. — Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) February 13, 2019 I've admired Kanter's game for a while and think he'll be a solid addition to the bench and major Nurk insurance ... Blazers have missed Ed's rebounding ability and Enes provides just that #RipCity — Dustin Hawes (@DHawes22) February 13, 2019 Will someone in print media please ask the newest Trail Blazer how he feels about Oregon's indigenous fruits? I'd like to read the Kanter Berry Tales. — David Deckard (@DaveDeckard) February 13, 2019 THE REST OF THE LEAGUE WHEN THEY FIND OUT WE GOT KANTER pic.twitter.com/TsJ4Q57YkX — J🏀HN🍕🌹🌊 (@pdxbrocialite) February 13, 2019 ET and Kanter on the same team? Personality wise this team is about to be entertaining as hell. #RipCity — Chris Burkhardt (@CBurkhardtNBCS) February 13, 2019 Basically Stotts gotta run Kanter and Nurkic out a couple times a game just to lay people out. — My Full Name is Michael Francis Acker (@mikeacker) February 13, 2019 Enes Kanter - Eanes Karnter - Ianes Karmtel - Ian Karmel. Think about it. — Ianes Karmter (@IanKarmel) February 13, 2019 Enes Kanter Enes Kanter Enes Kanter Enes Kanter (Sorry just trying to get my phone to stop autocorrecting to Need Kanye) — Ashtyn Butuso (@lil_buts) February 13, 2019 Trading for Rodney Hood and signing Enes Kanter, this last week is what back to back nba titles are made of — Yu (@YucciMane) February 13, 2019 I’ve never seen a player so excited to go to a new team - Kanter already changed his profile on every social media account to a photoshopped pic of himself wearing a Blazers uniform😂🙌🏼 — Mila Mimica (@MilaMimica1) February 13, 2019 Neil Olshey single handedly raising the Muslim population in Portland Nurkic Al-farouq Kanter — Brandon Lyons (@notbrandonlyons) February 13, 2019 Enes Kanter looking at Meyers Leonard pic.twitter.com/ghmqiubVp0 — Drew Allworth (@drewallworth) February 13, 2019 Yeah Kanter will definitely help 🙄 pic.twitter.com/koF0QohB3c — Pat Heery (@pheery12) February 13, 2019 I heard @Enes_Kanter is a fan of burgers. Well, there’s no better place for burgers than Portland! Welcome to RIP CITY!!!! #chipbound — Phillip Jackson (@PoophatPhil) February 14, 2019 We got Hood and Kanter for essentially nothing to fill our bench. Neil did pretty well here... — Justin Woodard (@jtwoodard89) February 14, 2019 I LOVE the Kanter pick up — Sean (@SPbeavs) February 14, 2019 Kanter to Portland is solid. #RipCity — T o b i n ’ s H a r r i e r ™ (@keenan__jones) February 14, 2019 Kanter to the Blazers makes no sense — Daniel R Gonźalez (28-29) (@JabronyLin43) February 14, 2019 The signing of Enes Kanter shows a few things, two of them being: MEYERS SUCKS and won’t be getting anymore time, Zach Collins’ development has stagnant and I like the guy but “foundational piece” per NO might be in danger... maybe? — Clem Ent (@clemsaucy) February 13, 2019 Honestly Kanter is the one buyout guy I was hoping the Blazers would go after.<doc-sep>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>
Free-agent center Enes Kanter has signed a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, he said Wednesday. Kanter made the news official in a post on Twitter, writing that he looks forward "to helping the Blazers achieve the ultimate goal of competing for a championship." The Blazers were Kanter's choice over several serious suitors, including the Los Angeles Lakers, sources said. The New York Knicks waived Kanter, 26, at the trade deadline last Thursday. "We're getting a guy who can really score and rebound," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said before Wednesday's game against the Golden State Warriors. "And he'll help us be a better team." Stotts said Kanter will be Portland's backup center behind Jusuf Nurkic. "He's a bona fide player in this league," Stotts said. "You look at his body of work. He's a great rebounder, a great offensive rebounder. He can score and get rebounds in a short amount of time. And I think the role that we have for him will really be good for him, but it will really be good for us, as far as providing a different dimension off our bench." Stotts said Kanter will join the Blazers in Brooklyn after the All-Star break. After Wednesday's 129-107 win over the Golden State Warriors, Portland is 34-23, one game ahead of the Houston Rockets for fourth in the Western Conference standings. The Blazers signed Kanter as a restricted free agent to a four-year, $70 million offer sheet in 2015. The Oklahoma City Thunder matched the offer, retaining Kanter before eventually trading him to the Knicks as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal in 2017. New York talked to teams about potential trades of Kanter prior to the deadline, but his $18.6 million expiring contract proved too difficult to move. Kanter's role with the Knicks decreased in the weeks leading up to the deadline, which led him to express displeasure about his limited role. He averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds, the latter tied for 12th in the league, in 25.6 minutes per game this season for the Knicks. He appeared in 44 games. In eight seasons with Utah, Oklahoma City and New York, Kanter has averaged 11.9 points and 7.6 rebounds. ESPN's Nick Friedell contributed to this report.