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>“About to start eating passengers on the charter,” Santangelo wrote at 2:38 a.m., about six hours after the Nationals were originally scheduled to depart. “Supplies are low and so is [morale]. The men are weak with fatigue from a long battle. Their wounds are pungent, smelling up the cabin. We long for the days of a plane that actually works. We hear that a new engine is on the way via horse and buggy. We await.”<doc-sep>The fun the Nationals had aboard the plane lightened the mood, players said, because the team itself is mired in a slump, having lost 11 of its past 16 games entering Monday while injuries continue to pile up. Manager Dave Martinez said Michael A. Taylor, who jammed his left wrist trying to make a diving catch Saturday, was day-to-day, and Martinez was unsure whether the outfielder was available off the bench in the series opener against the Brewers. Martinez also said third baseman Anthony Rendon, who has appeared in one game since April 20, “should be ready” to be activated off the injured list Tuesday when he is eligible “barring no setbacks."<doc-sep>Washington wasted a pair of leads, made four errors and lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 Monday night as Max Scherzer's winless streak reached five. MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Washington Nationals’ long night and day of travel got even worse after they arrived at Miller Park. Washington wasted a pair of leads, made four errors and lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 Monday night as Max Scherzer’s winless streak reached five. The Nationals’ charter flight was delayed eight hours as the plane sat on the tarmac at Philadelphia because of mechanical problems Sunday night after a 7-1 defeat to the Phillies. They finally got off the plane about 3 a.m. and returned to their hotel, then headed to Milwaukee on Monday and arrived after noon. Washington led 2-0 in the first and 3-2 in the seventh, but Milwaukee rallied to extend its winning streak to four. The Nationals committed a season-high four errors: catcher Kurt Suzuki made two, and shortstop Carter Kieboom and pitcher Tony Sipp one each. “I can’t make any excuses,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “I know before the game, the guys were pretty amped up to play.” Scherzer reached double digits in strikeouts for the third time this season and increased his total to 72 in eight starts but is 0-2 in his last five outings. He allowed two runs — one earned — and six hits in six innings, striking out 10 and walking one. Scherzer threw a season-high 112 pitches, escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in his final inning when he struck out Orlando Arcia on a foul tip, then got pinch-hitter Ryan Braun to ground out. “Look, they don’t feel sorry for us,” Scherzer said. “We all bonded together because of it.” Ben Gamel, Christian Yelich and Yasmani Grandal hit consecutive singles off Dan Jennings (0-2) starting the seventh, with Grandal driving in the tying run. Jesús Aguilar hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly off Wander Suero. Gamel, who had three hits, added a run-scoring single against Sipp in the eighth. “We did a nice job against their bullpen and caught some breaks,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. Álex Claudio (1-1) won despite allowing a home run by Adam Eaton that put Washington ahead 3-2 in the seventh. Junior Guerra struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save. Milwaukee starter Jhoulys Chacín allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, including Howie Kendrick’s two-run homer in the first for the Nationals. Mike Moustakas hit an RBI single in the bottom half on a line drive off the glove of leaping Kieboom, and Milwaukee tied the score in the second when Kieboom allowed Gamel’s two-out grounder to bounce off him for an error that let Aguilar score from third. Martinez was looking forward to getting to his hotel room in Milwaukee. “Hop in that bed. Put the covers over my head and not see daylight until about noon,” he said. TRAINER’S ROOM Nationals: 1B Matt Adams, placed on the 10-day IL Sunday, had an MRI that revealed a slightly sprained left shoulder. … C Yan Gomes was hit on a left arm by a Chacín pitch in the first inning, then left for a pinch hitter in the third. … LF Andrew Stevenson left in the fourth due to back spasms. … 3B Anthony Rendon (bruised left elbow) is expected to be activated Tuesday. MISCUE MAYHEM Washington had it third consecutive game with multiple errors for the first time since April 23-25, 2011, making nine in the three games. MOVING UP With 85 double-digit strikeout games, Scherzer passed Steve Carlton for seventh place. UP NEXT Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (3-1) is 2-0 with a 1.25 ERA in his last three starts with 29 strikeouts while holding the opposition to a .162 batting average. Brewers: RHP Adrian Houser (0-1, 8.44 ERA) makes his second start of the season, Counsell said after the game. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports Copyright © 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.<doc-sep>
If the Nationals can’t win a game when Max Scherzer only allows two runs, how well does that bode for every other game? To rephrase: what, exactly, does this team need to do to buy a win? Here’s the news from Milwaukee: The Nationals can’t catch a break … with anything right now (The Athletic) Flight delays turned into a mid-day arrival in Milwaukee; another two Nats injured themselves; the pace at which the Nats will have to win to make up ground is getting more and more unreasonable; the bullpen is still bad. Other than that, it's all fine. The 30: Week six sees complete-game shutouts from Cubs, Mets slingers as the D-Backs surge (The Athletic) The Nationals are ranked in the bottom ten of a power rankings for the first time in a long, long time here. Jonah Keri points to the following facts: they can't win Max Scherzer's starts, their fielding is atrocious, and they've already fired their pitching coach. Anthony Rendon expected back Tuesday (MLB.com) Rendon will represent a massive addition to the club's incredibly depleted lineup, while Matt Adams got off with just a shoulder strain. Prospect Team of the Week for week 4 (MLB.com) A pitcher for the Nats' triple-A team went three innings without allowing a hit or a run. Another few performances like that and he should take over the eighth inning in no time. Yan Gomes injures forearm vs. Brewers (MLB.com) Yan Gomes was hit on the arm with an 88 MPH fastball in the first yesterday. Are we having fun yet? Mistakes plague Nationals in loss to Brewers (MLB.com) The Nats were within striking distance of a win in a series opener. Then Brian Dozier couldn't handle a ground ball, and the floodgates reopened. Nationals are ready to go in Milwaukee after long night on team plane (WaPo) Brian Dozier won some Texas hold 'em money back after their Boeing 757 decided to imitate the team's bullpen; luckily, it was before it got in the air. Nationals' team plane get stuck in Philadelphia (MLB.com) “We’re not playing great baseball right now, so hopefully this can kind of divert us and erase our minds a little bit, and give us a little more jet lag, and refocus us,” outfielder Adam Eaton said. “We’ll try anything, I guess.” Nationals lose two more players to injury in series-opening loss to Brewers (WaPo) The Nationals had their nightly implosion in the seventh on Monday, but they also watched a backup for a backup go down with an injury in addition to one of the final Opening Day starters remaining. They aren't winning close games, they're giving up error after error; it's May, and it's already painfully ugly. Nats lose two more players, another series opener (MASN) Carter Kieboom, clearly, isn't ready for primetime. Seven-hour delays, clearly, don't help a team win. The bullpen and defense, clearly, aren't getting any better. Davey Martinez, needless to say, just isn't too happy these days. Rendon on track to return to lineup Tuesday (MASN) “With Anthony, it’s not just one guy,” Martinez said. “It’s a guy that’s in the middle of our lineup. And don’t forget his defense. His defense is utterly important for us. He plays unbelievable defense at third base. I’ve said this before: He’s a guy that our lineup revolves around. So getting him back will be huge.”