SARRIES IN THE PLAY-OFFS — AND BILLY’S COMING BACK
Andujar ends Kyle’s hopes of first ATP tour title
SARACENS erected the big top for the Premiership end-of-season jamboree with a six-try hammering of Bath which guaranteed their play-off spot. Four more points from the final two games will mean their semi-final will be played in Barnet. Bath were abject again and could lose Jonathan Joseph, who was on crutches after rolling his ankle in the first half. It may put his South Africa tour place in doubt but Bath director of rugby Todd Blackadder was positive, saying: ‘He looks like he has given his ankle a really good tweak. Hopefully it won’t be too serious.’ Saracens boss Mark McCall has Billy Vunipola primed for the run-in. He said: ‘It is the ninth year in a row that we have qualified and we seem to be getting people healthy at the right times. ‘It was great to see Michael Rhodes and Duncan Taylor out there. Billy is certain to play against Gloucester, and probably against London Irish. Selection is going to be incredibly difficult come the play-off.’ Bath’s fourth consecutive league defeat means they are likely to miss out on Champions Cup rugby next year, a sorry return for such a club so rich in talent and finance. Bath would rather not sack Blackadder but his position becomes stickier by the week. It took Sarries 48 minutes to tie up all five points here. In the first half Schalk Brits rumbled over from a driving lineout which he fed, Liam Williams ran one in from 75 metres when Nick Isiekwe put him away after an errant Rhys Priestland pass and Owen Farrell hit a penalty. After the break Richard Wigglesworth counterattacked to score down the blindside following a poor James Wilson clearance and Farrell ended the contest by intercepting Priestland’s pass for a run-in. Priestland kicked two penalties and though Bath played some decent rugby, they tied bows round their gifts to Sarries. With seven minutes left Sarries managed to score a fifth. Rhodes, back for the first time since tearing his hamstring off the bone, offloaded to Taylor who broke. Soon Schalk Burger scored in the corner but Farrell missed the kick. Ben Spencer closed out the scoring.
His sudden surge at the Australian Open aside, Kyle Edmund’s career has tended to be one of steady improvement rather than giant leaps.
so his first ever final at main ATP Tour level was always likely to be a challenge, but the letdown was palpable yesterday as he was swept aside by an opponent who, on paper at least, he should have beaten.
Edmund slumped badly, losing 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the Grand Prix Hassan in Marrakech, Morocco, to spain’s Pablo Andujar, wilting at the prospect of a significant victory that would have propelled him into the world’s top op 20 for the first t time.
He now heads to Monte Carlo, where last year he signalled his potential by giving Rafael Nadal a major scare.
The great spaniard ard is preparing for another other clay- court campaign, and had a minor dig yesterday at Roger Federer, who is skipping this part of the season altogether.
Edmund’s opening opponent in Monaco is italy’s Andreas seppi, who he defeated en route to the Melbourne semi- final in January with a performance as purposeful as this one was flat.
He looked overwhelmed by his arrival in the uncharted territory of a high- profile championship match. His serve, from which so much flows, was too frail and broken six times. He was too predictable in his patterns of play and his forehand weapon misfired far too often.
The consolation is that an otherwise impressive week has taken him up to 23 in the world, and the fallow period that followed his exploits in Australia is behind him.
‘Obviously not the best day for me,’ said Edmund afterwards. ‘For me it was a good tournament. My first final after my fifth semi, so it was good to get in the final. it was a great experience for me, always learning, continuing to build up my game, but not the result i wanted.’
Andujar has had a series of elbow problems and played only twice last year, depressing his ranking to a nominal 355. He had also won thithis tournament twice before, albeit when it was held in Casablanca, at a time when his ranking was closer to its career best of 32. He was on a ninine- match winning winning streak, but the fact is that he represented a superb opportunity. As it turned out, the spaniard needed only to be admirably consistent and use his experience, and by the time Edmund gave glimpses of his proper self in the second set at 4-1 down he had left it too late.
The higher a player goes the more he needs to cope with the pressure of being favourite, something that Nadal has mastered and the 23-year-old Yorkshireman is still getting to grips with.
Nadal is going for an 11th title this week as he starts out on the road to Paris after more knee problems kept him out in February and March.
He seemed regally amused by noises emanating from Federer, who is sitting out the clay-court season again to prepare for Wimbledon, despite winning the season’s opening Grand slam in Australia.
Asked whether he was bothered by the swiss’s absence Nadal chuckled: ‘i don’t care, he takes his decisions.
‘He says he will love to play against me again in best- offive-sets on clay, he said that a couple of days ago and i thought he would play Roland Garros, then a few days later he says he will not play in one event (on clay), so there’s a little bit of controversy with that.’
When it comes to their carefully cordial relationship, that is about as near to a swipe as you could get.