* Krejcikova wins French Open women’s singles title

Barbora Krejcikova, world no. 33 from Czech Republic, beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, no. 32 from Russia, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 to win her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros last evening.

* Djokovic faces Tsitsipas in final

Novak Djokovic will meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in the French Open men’s single final at 6.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time today. Djokovic, the world no. 1, has a 5/2 head-to-head record against Tsitsipas, no. 5. Tsitsipas last beat the Serb in 2019 Shanghai Master Q/F. Yet in French Open S/F last year, Djokovic was stretched for five sets by the Greek, who lost 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1. Fans expect a similar battle this evening too, for sure.

* Nadal’s Paris love affair over?

“Djoker” ended Rafael Nadal’s reign at the French Open with a four-set win in a classic semi-final on Friday (11) which will be ranked among the all-time great matches on the Roland Garros clay. Top-seed Djokovic, aka Djoker, won 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 against Nadal, the champion in each of the past four years. Nadal, going for a record-extending 14th title, lost at Roland Garros for only the third time in 108 matches. Djokovic, 34, must now recover to play Stefanos Tsitsipas in today’s final. The 22-year-old Tsitsipas reached his first Grand Slam final by beating German sixth seed Alexander Zverev in a five-set epic earlier on Friday. “It was one of these matches you can remember forever. It was one of the top three matches in my life,” said Djokovic. The high-quality match was full of drama and suspense, twists and turns, as it was played in front of 5,000 fans, who were allowed to stay despite France’s 11 p.m. curfew as part of its coronavirus restrictions.

* NBA play-offs: Phoenix Suns move closer to finals

The Phoenix Suns moved closer to the NBA’s Western Conference final after going 3-0 up on the Denver Nuggets in their semi-final series last week. Devin Booker scored 28 points while Chris Paul had 27 in the 116-102 win. The Suns have won six consecutive play-off games and are one victory from reaching the conference final for the first time since 2009-10. Elsewhere the Philadelphia 76ers moved 2-1 ahead in their Eastern Conference semi-final series. Joel Embiid had 27 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists as the visitors beat the Atlanta Hawks 127-111. Game four of the five-match semi-final series is tomorrow (14).

* Kiwis in front before WTC Final on Friday

England were trailing by 67 more runs with eight second-innings wickets intact at tea on day-three yesterday (12) in their second Test against New Zealand at Birmingham. The first of their two-match series ended in a draw at Lord’s on 6 June. New Zealand will face India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Southampton on Friday (18).

Scores: England 303 all out in 101 overs (Dan Lawrence 81 n.o., Rory Burns 81, Mark Wood 41, Dom Sibley 35, Olly Stone 20, Ollie Pope 19; Trent Boult 4/85, Matt Henry 3/78) and 18/2 in six overs (Zak Crawley 10 n.o.; Matt Henry [pictured] 2/7)

New Zealand 388 all out in 119.1 overs (Will Young 82, Ross Taylor 80, Devon Conway 80, Tom Blundell 34, Henry Nicholls 21, Ajaz Patel 20; Stuart Broad 4/48, Mark Wood 2/85, Olly Stone 2/92)

Update: England were 122/9 at the end of day's play. They are on the brink of a loss as they still lead by only 37 runs with only one second-innings wicket remaining. Neli Wagner (3/18), Matt Henry (3/36), and Ajaz Patel 2/25 shared wickets in tandem for the Kiwis as only Mark Wood (29) and Ollie Pope 23 passed the 20-run mark for the hosts.

* Lahore leads PSL 2021

Lahore Qalandars are now leading the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL) with five wins in six matches. Islamabad United won four wins in six to clinch second spot in the table. Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi are in third place with equal number of points (6).

* Windies trying to avoid disaster

West Indies were still trailing South Africa by 112 runs, trying to make amends to their disastrous first-innings’ collapse to 97, on the morning session of day-three of their first cricket Test at St. Lucia yesterday.

Scores: West Indies 97 all out in 40.5 overs (Jason Holder 20, Kraigg Brathwaite 15, Shai Hope 15, Rahkeem Cornwall 13; Lungi Ngidi 5/19, Anrich Nortje 4/35) and 113/5 in 42.3 overs (Roston Chase 42 n.o., Kieran Powell 14, Jermaine Blackwood 13, Shai Hope 12, Kyle Mayers 12; Kagiso Rabada 3/25, Anrich Nortje 2/42)

South Africa 322 all out in 96.5 overs (Quinton de Kock 141 n.o. [pictured], Aiden Markram 60, Rassie van der Dussen 46, Wiaan Mulder 25; Jason Holder 4/75, Jayden Seales 3/75, Kemar Roach 2/64)

Update: South Africa beat West Indies by an innings and 63 runs under three days. Kagiso Rabada took 5/34 for SA in the second innings. Scores: West Indies 97 & 162 South Africa 322

* Amosov, first Ukranian to clinch MMA world title

Undefeated Yaroslav Amosov became the first Ukrainian to capture a major Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) world title as he dethroned three-time Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima in the main event of Bellator 260. On Friday night in Uncasville, Connecticut, Amosov, 27, used his superior wrestling to nullify Lima’s knockout power as he took down the champion in each of the five rounds and dominated the Brazilian en route to a landslide win on the scorecards at the Mohegan Sun Arena.