TSONGA NO-HOPER
conference finals against either Boston or Philadelphia for a berth in the NBA finals championship series. Meanwhile, New York Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson has again been signed up to a multi-year contract extension, after guiding the team to the playoffs this year. French No 1 Jo-wilfried Tsonga yesterday said he stood by his comments that there was little or no hope this year of a Frenchman winning at Roland Garros for the first time since Yannick Noah in 1983. The comments, made in Rome last week by the world No 5, shocked many in France and drew fire from Noah himself who said that at the very least home players should ‘‘dream’’ of winning the only clay court Grand Slam tournament. Asked whether he had any regrets over what he had said, Tsonga replied: ‘‘No, not at all. We all need to dream, and I think I wouldn’t be No 5 in the world if I had not dreamt and if I didn’t continue to dream. In five French Open campaigns so far at Roland Garros, Tsonga is yet to make it past the fourth round.
DUFNER NEARS TEXAS DOUBLE
American Jason Dufner had a bogey-free six-under-par 64 yesterday to establish a two-stroke lead in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and close in on a rare Texas title double. A week after winning the Byron Nelson Championship, Dufner moved to 11-under 129 and a two-stroke advantage over Zach Johnson, the 2010 winner who shot a 67. Bo Van Pelt (64) and Tommy Gainey (67) were third at seven-under. The only player to win both PGA Tour events in the Dallas-fort Worth area in the same year was Ben Hogan in 1946. ‘‘That would be great company to join,’’ said Dufner, ranked 14th in the world.
DEVILS MAKE FINALS
An overtime goal from Adam Henrique has propelled the New Jersey Devils into the NHL Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2003, beating the New York Rangers 3-2 at the Prudential Centre in Newark. The Devils, who finished sixth in the Eastern Conference after the regular season, won the series 4-2 and will meet the Los Angeles Kings in the finals.