The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-27)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

The Hurricanes clamp

down on the Rangers

to take a 3-2 lead in their

second-round matchup. D5

TENNIS

This summer’s Citi Open,

set for July 30 to Aug. 7,

is also slated to feature

a women’s tournament. D2

KLMNO

SPORTS

FRIDAY, MAY 27 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

of the shoulders.

And the only site that would

be almost universally embraced

— at RFK Stadium in D.C. — isn’t

controlled by the people who

govern D.C. Without

fundamental change, it’s not just

a romantic notion. It’s a non-

starter.

So where are they?

“You don’t just build a

stadium and find a site and start

breaking ground,” Commanders

owner Daniel Snyder told

longtime Washington sports

anchor Chick Hernandez. “It

does take time.”

Well, at least they’re being

realistic, right?

Wait, let me check my notes.

... Snyder said that to
Hernandez in 2014.
The issue is now urgent. The
Commanders are required to
play at FedEx Field, a dump of a
SEE SVRLUGA ON D7

The Washington
Commanders
badly need a new
stadium, and they
should have their
pick of the three
jurisdictions from
which they draw
the bulk of their
fans. More than that: They
should have those three
jurisdictions elbowing one
another out of the way.
Their reality is this: The club
is looking at far-flung sites in
Virginia, which has a state
legislature that is preparing to
sour its offer, not sweeten it.
Maryland officials are so
indifferent to the Commanders’
presence in Prince George’s
County that they’re pledging to
pump $400 million into
developing the area around
FedEx Field even if the team
doesn’t stay, a municipal shrug

Three jurisdictions, few options

for new Commanders stadium

Barry

Svrluga

BY EMILY GIAMBALVO

For the University of Mary-

land, Memorial Day weekend

often turns into a lacrosse frenzy.

Those frequent trips to the

sport’s final weekend attract

high-schoolers and transfers to

the Terrapins’ programs, and the

sustained excellence brings fans

to College Park for lacrosse

games on spring days.

With Cathy Reese and John

Tillman as the longtime leaders

of these Maryland teams, the

championship tradition breeds

more success because everyone

wants to come to a program that

wins trophies. And so Final Four

appearances have become the

norm — more so at Maryland

than anywhere else.

Maryland is the only school

SEE MARYLAND ON D6

Terps’ goal:

Rare sweep

in lacrosse

Final Fours

BY LIZ CLARKE

paris — On an obscure court at Roland

Garros, in a women’s singles match that

drew scant attention, 63rd-ranked Irina-

Camelia Begu thrust herself into the

global spotlight as the latest example of

the ugly, potentially injurious on-court

outbursts plaguing pro tennis in recent

months.

Irked over losing her serve in a pivotal

moment, Begu, 31, tossed her racket on

the French Open’s red clay, and it rico-

cheted into the stands and toward a small

child, who burst into tears. The chair

umpire summoned the supervisor to

adjudicate, but Begu was allowed to play

on, later cited for unsportsmanlike con-

duct, despite the fact that her racket

“brushed” the child, according to a state-

ment from the tournament director.

Just two days earlier, Andrey Rublev,

the French Open’s seventh seed, also got a

warning for unsportsmanlike conduct

after he smashed a ball in a rage that

almost hit a groundsperson.

At Indian Wells in March, Nick Kyrgios

slammed his racket so hard after a loss

that it nearly hit a ballboy. Jenson Brooks-

by did much the same the next week at

the Miami Open, throwing his racket at a

ball kid. He was assessed a point penalty

and a $15,000 fine rather than being

defaulted.

In February, after losing a doubles

match in a tournament in Acapulco,

third-ranked Alexander Zverev bashed

his racket against the umpire’s chair. He

was disqualified from the singles event as

punishment and fined $40,000. But after

an ATP investigation, he skirted a suspen-

sion.

None among the sport’s current crop of

bad actors invented bad behavior on a

tennis court.

John McEnroe was a master tantrum-

thrower throughout his career. For Jim-

my Connors and Ilie Nastase, profane

tirades and obscene gestures were simply

part of the playbook through the 1970s

and 1980s, designed to fire up the crowd

as well as themselves and rattle their

opponents.

SEE FRENCH OPEN ON D2

An anger problem

In tennis, as violent outbursts of emotion increase, there are calls for a crackdown

Rockies at Nationals

Today, 7:05 p.m., MASN

Inside: Joe Ross has a setback in

his return from an elbow injury. D3

BY ANDREW GOLDEN

Wins have been hard to come by

for the Washington Nationals all

season but especially when left-

hander Patrick Corbin is on the

mound. He made his 10th start

Thursday night but was still

searching for his first win — and

the Nationals hadn’t prevailed in

any of those nine games, either.

But when he walked to the dug-

out after pitching 6^1 / 3 innings

against the Colorado Rockies at

Nationals Park, he was in a posi-

tion he hasn’t often been this sea-

son: in line for the win. The bull-

pen finished the job to secure

Washington’s 7-3 victory to open a

four-game series.

Despite his struggles, Corbin

(1-7) has shown an ability to pitch

deep into games and preserve a

bullpen that has been used heavi-

ly. Washington’s starters had com-

pleted six innings just nine times

in 45 games entering Thursday;

SEE NATIONALS ON D3

Corbin gets

support,

notches his

first victory

NATIONALS 7,

ROCKIES 3

CLIVE BRUNSKILL/GETTY IMAGES

After losing a serve at Roland Garros, Irina-Camelia Begu, left, tossed her racket on the court’s red clay, and it ricocheted into the stands toward a small child.

French Open, third round | Today, 5 a.m., Tennis Channel; 7 a.m., MASN2

NCAA L ACROSSE SEMIFINALS

Md. women vs. Boston College

Today, 3 p.m., ESPNU

Md. men vs. Princeton

Tomorrow, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2

NBA FINALS, GAME 1

Celtics or Heat at Warriors

Thursday, 9 p.m., ABC

BY BEN GOLLIVER

san francisco — When the

Golden State Warriors have it

going, they make the defense

look lost and apprehensive, over-

whelmed by their quick decisions

and even quicker triggers. But

when the Warriors really have it

going, their harmony of motion

renders invisible their opponents

and a high-stakes playoff game

starts to look a bit like a pregame

walk-through in an empty gym.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thomp-

son, Draymond Green and com-

pany reached that extra level

Thursday, picking apart the Dal-

las Mavericks with curls and back

cuts, jumpers and dunks, to post

a 120-110 win and become the

first team since Michael Jordan’s

Chicago Bulls in the 1990s to

reach the NBA Finals six times in

an eight-year span. Clad in black

from head to toe, the Warriors

treated Game 5 like a formal

SEE WARRIORS ON D5

Warriors reach sixth NBA Finals in eight seasons

JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Stephen Curry was named the first winner of the Magic Johnson award as MVP of the West finals.

WARRIORS 120,

MAVERICKS 110