Cilic flies under the radar all the way to last eight

PARIS-- Marin Cilic has flown under the radar since arriving in Paris but after reaching the French Open quarter-finals for the loss of 26 games he looms as a clear and present danger.
  The 28-year-old Croat joins four other grand slam winners in the last eight but, while nine-times Roland Garros winner Rafa Nadal, holder Novak Djokovic, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray make the headlines, Cilic barely gets a mention.
  On Monday he was on court for 48 minutes before South African Kevin Anderson retired because of a leg injury with Cilic leading 6-3 3-0 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
  The undemonstrative seventh seed joined Spain's Nadal, Austrian Dominic Thiem and next opponent Wawrinka as the four players to reach the quarters without conceding a set.
  Only Nadal (20) has lost fewer games so far here this year and Cilic, who has reached the quarter-finals for the first time having done so in the other three slams, says he has not felt better at a grand slam since he won the 2014 U.S. Open.
  "Apart from at the U.S. Open in '14, I'm definitely feeling the best on the court," Cilic, the first Croatian to reach the last eight since Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic in 2006, told reporters. "Even then I didn't go through the draw as comfortably as here."
  At 1.98 metres, and with a game built on power off the serve and forehand, Cilic does not look made for clay.
  But he is a French Open junior champion and has two claycourt titles to his name, one of which came this year when he won the Istanbul tournament.
  "With the form I'm in I feel great on the court," he said. "It's a huge bonus for me, knowing that mentally and physically I haven't spent any energy at all.
  "I grew up on clay, playing half the year on clay. But I would say last year I started to feel that I'm getting better on it. This year we changed a little bit the routine of the training on clay, and that helped me a lot."
  Cilic will need to find another gear against third seed Wawrinka, who he trails 11-2 in head-to-heads and has not beaten since 2010, but he is ready and with warm weather expected later in the week he definitely has a puncher's chance.
  "With Stan it's extremely difficult on any surface," he said. "He has won a lot of matches in a row against me.
  "But for me I have to focus on keeping this level and to look for my chances."
  For Anderson a decent run ended in frustration and he just hopes he will recover in time for the grasscourt swing.
  "The serve was not firing properly. I wasn't able to use my legs properly. As the match went on, movement became increasingly difficult," he said.

Warriors beat Cavs, take 2-0 series lead

OAKLAND-- The Golden State Warriors overcame 20 turnovers and a triple-double by Cleveland's LeBron James to beat the Cavaliers 132-113 at Oracle arena on Sunday and push their Finals series lead to 2-0.
  Warriors forward Kevin Durant electrified the gold-clad sold-out crowd in Oakland with 33 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five blocks three steals. Guard Stephen Curry had a triple-double of his own but also committed eight turnovers.
  Durant said the sloppy play in the first half was the reason the Warriors were unable to pull away early.
  "Turnovers, can't give them easy baskets," he said in an on-court interview.
  Curry and Durant have been hailed as the best duo in the NBA but the Warriors guard said they were just trying to play good basketball.
  "I'm not it's for us to debate," Curry said. "We're young, healthy, playing a game we love."
  The game marked the return of Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who was sidelined earlier in the playoffs by persistent back pain following several surgeries. He said he intended to coach the team for the remainder of the best-of-seven series.
  While the Warriors are looking strong they will no doubt be keen to keep their foot on the gas. They had a 3-1 lead over Cleveland in last year's Finals before the Cavs stormed back to win it in seven games.
  Game Three is in Cleveland on Wednesday.

Giroud treble boosts France ahead of Sweden qualifier

PARIS-- Olivier Giroud's hat-trick inspired France to a 5-0 friendly victory over Paraguay on Friday, boosting Les Bleus' confidence ahead of a potentially decisive World Cup qualifier against Sweden next week.

Departing Muguruza breaks down in tears

PARIS-- Garbine Muguruza's defence of her French Open title ended in tears on Sunday when the Spaniard had to be escorted from the Roland Garros interview room after breaking down following her fourth-round loss to Kristina Mladenovic.

Venus makes swift work of Mertens to roll back the years again

PARIS- Evergreen Venus Williams stayed in contention for a shot at a maiden French Open crown, continuing to roll back the years with a 6-3 6-1 third-round demolition of Elise Mertens on Friday.

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