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>Get live NHL Stanley Cup playoff updates, news and analysis during Game 1 of the Sharks’ Western Conference finals series against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday at SAP Center. The battle-tested Sharks are coming off two straight seven-game series victories and could very well be in for another long series against the Blues, who went from the NHL’s worst team in January to a Stanley Cup contender. San Jose keeps getting healthier and captain Joe Pavelski’s return (as well as his goal) helped it beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in Game 7 of the semifinals on Wednesday. For what it’s worth, the Sharks defeated St. Louis in two of their three meetings in the regular season. St. Louis made it to the conference finals by upsetting Winnipeg in the first round (winning three road games in the process) and then knocking off the Dallas Stars Tuesday with a double-overtime victory, thanks to Pat Maroon’s goal and goalie Jordan Binnington’s 29 saves. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be back at SAP Center on Monday night at 6. Like our Sharks Facebook page for more San Jose Sharks news, commentary and conversation.<doc-sep>ST. LOUIS — Jordan Binnington made save after save to pull off yet another playoff victory — and make some team history — for the Blues. The rookie goalie stopped 29 shots to set a franchise record with his 10th post-season win this year and St. Louis edged the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Friday night to even the Western Conference final at two games apiece. "He’s been dynamite back there for us all year and his first game he came in and had a goose egg and just took over from there," Blues defenceman Colton Parayko said of Binnington. "It’s been fun to watch. "He’s just doing his thing." Binnington moved past Brian Elliott (2016) and Roman Turek (2001) for the most wins by a Blues goalie in a single playoffs. He is the 10th rookie netminder to win at least 10 games in a single post-season in league history. "It’s a great honour," Binnington said. "Obviously, I’m having a lot of fun back here playing with this team. They’re doing a great job. They limited chances tonight. They played a complete game and I just tried to do my job." Tyler Bozak and Ivan Barbashev scored in the first period for the Blues, giving Binnington all the scoring he needed. Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks, and Martin Jones made 20 saves. Game 5 is in San Jose on Sunday. Barbashev gave the Blues a quick lead when his shot deflected off of Gustav Nyquist’s stick and into the net just 35 seconds in. Alexander Steen’s hip check of Brent Burns behind the Sharks’ net created a turnover that led to Barbashev’s first career playoff goal. There have been seven goals scored in the opening minute of playoff games this year, with three of them coming against San Jose – the most since the Boston Bruins allowed four during their Stanley Cup run in 2011. "We’ve got to be more ready at the start of the game, for sure," Jones said. "With the way the last game ended, we should have known how they were going to come out and we were just a little more casual at the start of the game." The Blues needed just 9 seconds to convert on a power play as Bozak’s shot found its way through several skates and past Jones to make it 2-0 with 2:07 left in the first. "We kind of were stressing we’ve got to get more pucks on net with traffic and we were just kind of passing it around the outside a little too much," Bozak said. "Great shot by Vlady (Tarasenko) and Patty (Maroon) got a tip. Just a loose puck in front and I got kind of lucky that it ended up on my stick and went in." San Jose tilted the ice in its favour in the second period, but Binnington stopped all 11 shots the Sharks sent his way. Burns had the Sharks’ best chance, hitting the crossbar with about three minutes left in the period. "I thought that they came out hard in the second and obviously had some offensive zone time on us," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "We’ve got to do a better job of not allowing them to take control of the game that way. I thought the second period, we just sat back too much. We didn’t play aggressive enough in the second period." Hertl banged home a rebound off of a slap shot by Burns on the Sharks’ second power play of the game at 6:48 of the third period to cut the Blues’ lead to 2-1. The goal snapped San Jose’s scoreless streak of 226 minutes, 48 seconds in Game 4s this post-season after being shut out in the first two rounds. Jones stopped the last 13 shots he faced to keep the Sharks close. "It was a tough first (period), obviously," Burns said. "After that, I think we battled back there, had some good looks. I think we got better. We’re going to have to have better. That’s a great team over there. Still looking for a solid 60, I think." KARLSSON’S HEALTH One major concern for the Sharks is the status of star defenceman Erik Karlsson, who was sidelined during part of the third period with an undisclosed injury. He left the ice midway through the period and missed some key shifts before returning in the closing minutes when San Jose tried to tie it with an extra skater. Karlsson missed all but six of the Sharks’ regular-season games with leg and groin ailments. It was unclear if the current issue is related. Coach Peter DeBoer didn’t have an update on Karlsson after the game. FACE IN THE CROWD Soccer star Becky Sauerbrunn was at the game. The U.S. women’s national team played a friendly against New Zealand at Busch Stadium on Thursday night. NOTES: The Blues and Sharks entered the game with 42 points each in the playoffs, the most in the NHL. … Blues D Vince Dunn, who was hit in the face by a puck in Game 3, was replaced in the lineup by Carl Gunnarsson.<doc-sep>
Western Conference Final, here we come. This is the first time that the San Jose Sharks have been back to the Conference Final since 2016, where they faced ... the St. Louis Blues, winning the series in six games to make their first ever Stanley Cup Final appearance. The Blues had home ice in that series, during the year of San Jose’s “road ice advantage.” The Sharks took two of three games at Enterprise Center that series. This year, the Sharks have home ice and will open the series on Saturday night at SAP center. The Sharks have played the Blues three times this season, with one overtime win, one regulation win and one regulation loss. The latter two games were both 4-0 shutouts where the home team won and both also took place in November, when the Blues appeared to be plummeting toward a lottery pick, not the postseason. But things have changed for St. Louis since January. The one time these teams saw each other after the Blues’ overhaul, the Sharks pulled out a 3-2 overtime win. If that game is any indication, we could be in for another long series. Here’s the full schedule: Western Conference Final Schedule Date Day Time Broadcast Location Date Day Time Broadcast Location May 11 Saturday 5:00 PT/8:00 ET NBC SAP Center May 13 Monday 6:00 PT/9:00 ET NBCSN SAP Center May 15 Wednesday 5:00 PT/8:00 ET NBCSN Enterprise Center May 17 Friday 5:00 PT/8:00 ET NBCSN Enterprise Center May 19 Sunday 12:00 PT/3:00 ET NBC SAP Center May 21 Tuesday 5:00 PT/8:00 ET NBCSN Enterprise Center May 23 Thursday 6:00 PT/9:00 ET NBCSN SAP Center If you miss hockey every other night, the Boston Bruins face off against the Carolina Hurricanes on the Sharks’ days off, starting tonight.