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>I’m volunteering to handle Nick Saban’s apologies to reporters this season, so let’s get straight to the first one he owes. Dear Maria Taylor, Please accept Coach Saban’s apology for his rude behavior when you were simply doing your job as ESPN’s sideline reporter Saturday after Alabama’s 51-14 victory over Louisville. We’d like to point out that Coach Saban has bullied a multitude of reporters, so please don’t be offended because you deserve far more respect than Coach Saban showed you. We hope to see you again later in the season, but can’t guarantee you Coach Saban will be more civil. Sincerely, Coach Saban’s Official Apologizer It was sadly predictable. More:Winners and losers of college football's Week 1 headlined by Maryland After months of speculation about Alabama’s quarterback competition, Tua Tagovailoa got the start in the Crimson Tide’s season opener. He threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-16 passing and rushed for 26 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Jalen Hurts, the starter last season, also played and threw for 70 yards on 5-of-9 passes and rushed for nine yards on three carries. So after the game, during an on-field interview, ESPN’s Taylor asked the obvious question politely enough. “What answers did you have after watching both of your quarterbacks play tonight?’’ she asked. Saban started calmly enough. “Well, I still like both guys. I think both guys are good players,” he replied, before his tone shifted. “I think both guys can help our team, all right? So why do you continually try to get me to say something that doesn’t respect one of them? I’m not going to. So quit asking.” Taylor reacted Sunday morning on Twitter. Saban's behavior was downright bullying, and he threatened to do more at his postgame press conference. "If I sound a little bit pissed, you're right. I am,’’ Saban said, according to published reports. “So be careful.” Actually, it’s Saban who better be careful. Never mind those six championships he’s won and talk of his being the greatest college football coach of all time. He’s also vying for All-Time Rudest Coach with reporters. Fortunately for him, he’s got a volunteer this season to handle apologies on his behalf.<doc-sep>ORLANDO, Fla. -- Head coaches Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino spoke to reporters Saturday night at Camping World Stadium following No. 1 Alabama's 51-14 win over Louisville. Here is what Saban and Petrino said about their 2018 neutral-site openers. NICK SABAN "Well, I think that if you look at the results of today's game, you have to be pleased that we're able to win. I think there's a lot of good things that we did. But I also think that there's a lot of things that we need to fix. "So as a coach, you always think more about the things you need to fix than the things that you did well. So I don't want anybody here to think that I'm not pleased, you know, with the effort of our players, the intensity that they played with. We executed very well on a lot of plays. And I'm really, really proud of the way the team came out and played and executed in the game. "But I also think that it's pretty obvious that we had way too many penalties, a lot of undisciplined-type penalties, and if you look at the challenges of the season ahead -- and I watched TV today. Did anybody else watch TV today? There's a lot of good teams in our league. I watched TVs for the last couple of days. There's a lot of really good teams in our league. "And if we're going to meet the challenges of the future, we need to do a lot of these things a lot better and way too many mental errors, really on both sides of the ball, but more on defense. And you know, undisciplined-type penalties, basically gave the team a touchdown, just gave them a touchdown, stopped them on third down twice and had penalties two times in a row. I mean, you do that against a good team in a close game, you know what's going to happen. "So we need to get all that stuff fixed and we need to focus on the challenges of the season and the teams that we've got to play in the future and what we need to do to improve. So we always have 24 hours to enjoy the game, and I certainly want the players to do that. I mean, they can wear their sweats home tonight and they can be happy for 24 hours but we've got lots of work to do. We've got a lot of things that we need to clean up. We've got a lot of things we need to improve. "I thought special teams was really good in the game but also we take a touchdown off the board because we hit somebody in the back -- and we hit them in the back. And it was a bad decision to hit them in the back and it wasn't even a block we needed to make for the guy to run for a touchdown. So if I sound a little bit pissed, you're right. I am. All right? So you know, be careful." Question: When did you make your final determination on what the plan was for the quarterbacks and when did you have the conversation with them and let them know what the plan was? NS: "I talked to the quarterbacks Thursday before practice. And they both knew exactly what the situation would be in the game. It's how we practiced on Thursday. And you know, I wanted Tua to play somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 plays and then we're going to put Jalen in the game. It didn't matter how it went. It didn't matter what the score was. "And then wanted Jalen to have an opportunity to play. He did some good things and some things, you know, we need to do better. Both of them. And, you know, we wanted Tua to get the experience to go on two-minute, you know, right before the half, so we put him back in there because he hadn't had much experience doing that. And, you know, Jalen got to play some in the second half and made a couple good throws, but, you know, we got to be able to execute and do what you're coached to do. That's the No. 1 thing. "And, you know, we're going to continue to have both these guys be weapons for us on offense because I think they can. And I hope both guys can do a good job of preparing and managing to get ready for the game so that they can contribute to our team in a positive way." Q: Coach, what impressed you the most about Tua's play overall? NS: "Tua played well and made some really good throws -- I mean, really good throws, very accurate throws, put the ball right on guys. When they had halfway decent coverage, he made good decisions for the most part. We’ve got him to get -- get him to get two hands on the ball. He's too loose with the ball in the pocket, and he's going to get the ball knocked out of his hand. You know, those are the kind of things that I'm talking about that doesn't get you till it gets you. So you've got to fix them before it gets you. Alabama head coach Nick Saban "But he played well. I think he executed. He did what he was supposed to do. He read the right thing. He was well prepared in the game. I think the offensive coaches did a really good job of preparing for what they were going to see, we pretty much saw what we thought we were going to see, and for the most part did a pretty good job of executing against it." Q: Do you have an update on Mack Wilson and maybe any of the other guys that got injured in the game? NS: "We don't have any significant injuries. You know, Mack Wilson could have went back and played in the game. We just chose not to put him in. I think the score was 40-7 or something. We were getting ready to play some other players so that's, you know, a good thing that we're able to do today. "We got a lot of really young players that are in backup positions, so for them to go out and play today was a good thing. They made some mistakes, too, which, you know, led to the last score. So -- but they'll learn from it and get better." Q: Brian VanGorder looked like he was trying to pressure you guys a lot earlier. How do you think Tua handled those decisions when he was under a lot of pressure? NS: "I think he did a pretty good job. I mean, Tua does a really good job of keeping his eyes down the field when he's scrambling in the pocket. I mean, the first touchdown was pretty amazing to be able to move in the pocket that way and still keep your eyes downfield and throw the ball, you know, to a guy like that, and he's capable of making those kinds of plays. Some guys when they start to scramble, their eyes go down. They can't see down the field anymore so they're stuck running. "So anyway, I thought he handled the pressure well. I thought we had a good plan to handle it. I think he recognized it for the most part. And I'm sure when we watch the film, we'll see some things that we could have done better." Q: What did you think about the secondary and how they performed against a quarterback who was able to throw the ball down the field pretty well? NS: "You know, we didn't give up a lot of big plays and the mental errors were made mostly on pressure. And, you know, I thought we made some mental errors in the secondary. When you see a guy running wide open and nobody’s around him, that means somebody messed up. Because we don't have any defenses where a guy doesn't get covered. We don't have any. Everybody's got somebody.<doc-sep>
"If I sound a little pissed, you're right. So be careful." Alabama's Nick Saban has apologized to Maria Taylor after giving her an especially abrasive response in a postgame interview on Saturday night. The famed Crimson Tide coach lashed out after the ESPN reporter and analyst asked him to comment on his two potential starting quarterbacks following the team's 51-14 win over the Louisville Cardinals. Watch the now-viral moment below: ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website "Well, I still like both guys," Saban said of Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts. "I think both guys are good players. I think both guys can help our team, all right? So why do you continually try to get me to say something that doesn't respect one of them? I'm not going to. So quit asking!" ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Taylor appeared unfased by Saban's snippy response and kept the interview moving. "I hear you," Taylor replied. "Over 500 yards of total offense." His attitude was similar when he spoke in the postgame presser and told reporters to "be careful." "If I sound a little bit pissed, you're right. I am,’’ Saban said, according to USA Today. “So be careful.” Taylor reacted Sunday morning on Twitter, writing, "Don't mind me." Saban reportedly called Taylor to apologize for his behavior. He had grown increasingly defensive after fielding similar inquiries leading up to the game. Uproxx points out that Saban can't exactly accuse ESPN of unfair treatment, as they are currently hyping his team in the Training Days docuseries. Few coaches in the country get better publicity for their program from ESPN in particular than Saban at Alabama — they literally just wrapped a Hard Knocksstyle Training Days show on ESPN that showed off Alabama’s facilities and practices and just generally how great everything with the Tide’s program is. That makes it even more ridiculous that he thinks Taylor or ESPN would be actively trying to get him to throw one of his QB’s under the bus. Part of the problem in this situation, and so many others for college coaches, is you are always recruiting. Post-game interviews, as much as anything, are a time to be ‘crootin. And, as such, you don’t want to say something negative about a player, not just because it could affect Hurts, but because it also could make recruits watching think you play favorites or may disparage them publicly if they don’t have a good game. ESPN has further details: He also appeared miffed by questions from reporters earlier in the week, saying, "I wish we could talk about something else." Tagovailoa started Saturday's 51-14 win and went 12-for-16 for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Hurts also played and was 5-for-9 for 70 yards. Hopefully Saban can keep his cool for the rest of the season.