Owen Farrell insists Saracens return to the Gallagher Premiership final with more strings to their bow as a result of last year’s Twickenham heartache.

Leicester were crowned champions at Saracens’ expense and although it was a narrow 15-12 defeat, a disappointing performance prompted a tactical rethink that has produced greater emphasis on attack.

Now they face the ultimate test of their progress in the winner-takes-all clash with Sale on Saturday.

“It took us a while to figure out how to get the best out of ourselves after last year’s final because we didn’t do that in that game,” Farrell said.

“What happened probably allowed us to change a bit more than we usually would after a final. It got us looking at ourselves a bit more than usual.

“Just simply because we were nowhere near our best and we didn’t give the best version of ourselves.

“Obviously Leicester played a massive part in that, but we don’t want to come off the field feeling like that again. That 80 minutes made us look at everything and look at how we can be better.

“Everyone talks about us now like we have turned into a team that plays attacking rugby this year alone. We’ve won stuff before playing good rugby.

“We have always had a solid basis behind us and we still have but there were times during the year and sometimes in big pressure games that we were trying to stay in the fight whereas now we want to take opportunities and make good decisions.

“Part of that could be staying in the fight – we want to be good at that – and part of that could be moving the ball. It could be anything – kick pass, run.

“We want to be good enough to play any way the game demands of us and we feel like we have taken a step forward with that this year. Hopefully that plays a big part in what we have do on Saturday.”

A key battle that will shape the contest is Farrell’s fly-half duel with George Ford, his long-term friend and former England team-mate who has been hugely influential for Sale since returning from an Achilles injury.

“I have known George since I was a kid. When you come up against him, first and foremost you know you are playing against a quality player,” Farrell said.

“You know you are playing against someone who knows what they are doing and as he has shown since coming back into the Sale team, he has been outstanding.

“He’s in a good place, he looks calm, he looks in control and I am sure he is a big driver behind this Sale team so I am looking forward to it.”

George Ford says it is not about individual match-ups ahead of an intriguing Twickenham battle with friend and England colleague Owen Farrell.

Ford will pull the tactical strings for Sale on their first appearance in a Gallagher Premiership final since 2006.

His rival fly-half Farrell, meanwhile, is key to Saracens’ hopes of securing a sixth Premiership title on Saturday following the crushing disappointment that accompanied their defeat against Leicester at Twickenham last season.

“We understand Owen has an unbelievable influence on the Saracens team, but he is one of only 15 men on the field at that particular time,” Sale playmaker Ford said.

“There are threats everywhere, and we are like that ourselves. I am one of only 15 at a time for Sale.

“I never see it as just a match-up between me and him. There is so much more that goes into a game of rugby.

“Obviously, both of us will want to do our job as well as we can, of course we do, for our team, and that is making as many good decisions and executing as well as we can.

“He is a great friend, and we understand we are just a cog in a machine of two teams, I suppose, that hopefully have an influence on the game one way or another.

“That consistency that he (Farrell) plays at very rarely dips. You see the influence he has on the teams he plays in and the way he drives it.

“He is obviously driving their variety in terms of the way they attack when they have the ball, and he is probably as ferocious as ever in defence.

“A lot of the stuff in rugby comes down to not just one player against another, it comes down to many things.

“Who has got momentum, who’s got speed of ball, who has got field position, who’s building pressure the most? And then it is about who executes better in those moments.

“Saracens have added variety to their game, everybody knows about that, in terms of the last 12 months, the way they play with the ball.

“But it comes down to who executes the best under pressure, because both teams are going to try to put each other under pressure. Who can handle that?”

Ford started for Leicester in last season’s final but a serious Achilles injury suffered during the first half of that game meant a lengthy rehabilitation programme and his Sale debut being delayed until earlier this year.

He now has a chance to win silverware in his first campaign with the Sharks, backing Ford’s long-held view that Sale can be challenging for trophies.

Reflecting on the move north, he added: “It was the reasons of coming up to where I grew up, coming up to be close to my family, coming to a team I knew had unbelievable potential to start competing and hopefully start challenging for titles in the Premiership.

“Also, to have a new challenge. Sometimes, the easier decision as a player is to be more comfortable, stick with what you know, understand where you are within that team.

“But also you’ve a decision where you can maybe come out of your comfort zone, come to a new team and you are at a stage where you have to start influencing, you’ve got to start proving yourself again to a whole new group of people and see what you can do with that team.

“I think that brings the best out of you sometimes. I certainly felt that coming back from injury. I have loved it.”

Carlos Alcaraz is ready to take top billing at a grand slam for the first time as he steps into Rafael Nadal’s clay-court shoes.

With the 14-time champion choosing to sit out a chunk of the season ahead of an expected swansong next year, Spanish hopes at the French Open now rest on Alcaraz’s broad shoulders.

The 20-year-old claimed his first grand slam title at the US Open last summer but was forced to sit out the Australian Open through injury so will be entering a major as a slam champion for the first time.

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He is also the number one seed after surpassing Novak Djokovic following back-to-back titles in Barcelona and Madrid.

“For me it’s still crazy to see myself as top seed in a grand slam,” he said. “But at the same time it’s great. It’s something that I work for to be there. I’m really happy to be number one seed here at Roland Garros.”

Alcaraz’s swift rise and instant popularity has been a gift to the sport as it faces losing all of its long-time figureheads.

Nadal will miss the tournament for the first time since 2004, and his young compatriot said: “I felt bad when I heard that Rafa, he was not able to play here in Roland Garros and probably the rest of the year.

“As a fan of tennis, I always want to watch Rafa playing. I always want to watch the best players in the world playing the tournaments. And of course learning from them really close, here in the locker rooms, around the club, the tournament, for me is great.

“When I heard that it was tough to understand how it’s going to be without Rafa this year. Hopefully we’ll see him next year and he’s 100 per cent.”

Nadal cited the Paris Olympics, where the tennis will be held at Roland Garros, as a key target for next season, and Alcaraz welcomed the idea of the two men playing doubles together for Spain.

“It could be a dream playing doubles with him in the Olympics,” he said. “So of course let’s see. Let’s see how he’s doing and how he’s going this year. Hopefully he’s going great.”

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Alcaraz could potentially meet Djokovic in the semi-finals, with Daniil Medvedev having overtaken the Serbian to claim the second seeding by virtue of winning his first tour title on clay at the Italian Open last weekend.

Medvedev lost in the first round on his first four appearances at Roland Garros before reaching the quarter-finals in 2021 and the fourth round last year.

Asked if he now believes he can win the French Open, the Russian said: “I don’t know. Because I also don’t want to put too much pressure on myself. But what happened in Rome was amazing, especially beating a lot of good players.

“That’s an amazing feeling, and I’m for sure maybe having more expectation than I usually had in Roland Garros. But I know that it’s also tricky and you have to use this confidence, but not get cocky, because that’s where the danger is.

“Sometimes you think, ‘Oh, well, I played so well, now it’s going to be easy’. Then the first round you have problems. You can get angry and maybe lose the match. So I have been in this situation many times, and I just want to try to play good tennis here in Roland Garros.”

Henry Candy’s Araminta continued her quick rise through the ranks to claim the William Hill Height of Fashion Stakes at Goodwood.

Only making her debut last month, she was an impressive winner in testing ground over seven furlongs at Newbury before going on to finish third over a mile in the Listed company most recently.

Upped in distance, she took the step up to 10 furlongs in her stride, quickening up smartly and then running on strongly to win by one and a half lengths at 15-2.

“She seems to go on both sorts of ground and we’ve seen here she gets the mile and a quarter well,” said Candy.

“I’m very pleased with her progression and that she can handle both types of ground.”

However, a trip to Royal Ascot looks doubtful with Candy hoping to now give the daughter of Gleneagles a break while connections plot their next move.

“I think probably not because we don’t think she could quite manage a mile and a half. A mile and a quarter might be enough,” said Candy, when asked if he would consider supplementing the filly for the Ribblesdale Stakes at the royal meeting.

“She’s had three quick races so we’ll give her a bit of a break while we think about what comes next.”

It was a case of keeping it in the family in the British EBF 40th Anniversary Cocked Hat Stakes where Gregory replicated the exploits of half-brother Lionel who won the Listed event last year

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Golden Horn colt was an impressive winner on debut at Haydock and was sent off the 4-7 favourite to remain unbeaten on the Sussex Downs.

Ridden with patience by Robert Havlin and given plenty of time to ease his way into the contest, he was staying on strongly at the business end to grind down Frankie Dettori and Hadrianus who had been dictating the pace on the front end and was eventually passed for second by Klondike.

It was back-to-back victories in the race for owner-breeder Philippa Cooper who runs her horses under the Normandie Stud Ltd moniker and Gregory was cut to 16-1 from 25s by Paddy Power for the St Leger later in the year.

Nashwa returns to France on Sunday to kick off her four-year-old campaign in the Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Frankel’s finest hour came on the continent last June when she claimed Classic honours in the Prix de Diane and a fine 2022 season saw her add further Group One riches in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood.

Brave efforts in defeat in both the Prix de l’Opera and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf followed and having missed out on her intended return date in the Middleton Stakes, she now crosses the Channel once again for the Group Two contest over 10 furlongs.

“She had a wonderful season last year,” said Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Imad Al Sagar.

“It was Imad’s first homebred Classic winner when she won the Prix de Diane which was more than exciting and she went and confirmed that in the Nassau.

“She was a little bit unlucky in the Prix de l’Opera and she missed the kick at the Breeders’ Cup.

“She’s wintered well and her preparation has been pretty straightforward. We hoped to get her back for the Middleton at York but we just ran out of a bit of time. She just hadn’t quite come to herself and really wanted an extra week or so, which she has now got.”

Joseph O’Brien’s Above The Curve is also a Group One winner in France having won the Prix Saint-Alary at ParisLongchamp last May and added the Blandford Stakes to her CV before finishing behind Nashwa in both the Opera and at the Breeders’ Cup.

She brought up the rear on her return in the Mooresbridge Stakes but that will have blown away the cobwebs and O’Brien expects her to show her true colours now.

“It looks a very good race, but she’s come out of her comeback run at the Curragh very well, she’s in very good form,” said O’Brien.

“She’s run well in France in the past which is always a help. It looks a suitable spot for her and hopefully she runs well.”

Waldemar Hickst’s India won the Prix Allez France in the capital last month, scoring by a head from Andre Fabre’s Mqse De Sevigne, and the pair clash again.

Francis-Henri Graffard’s Baiykara and Jerome Reynier’s Romagna Mia were further down the field on that occasion and complete the sextet that go to post in Paris.

Max Verstappen finished fastest in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashed out.

Verstappen edged out home favourite Charles Leclerc by just 0.065 seconds with his Ferrari team-mate Sainz third.

Fernando Alonso finished fourth for Aston Martin ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

As Verstappen raced to the top of the charts, Sainz’s running ended with 17 minutes remaining.

The Spaniard, who was earlier quickest in the first session, clipped the entry barrier into the swimming pool chicane, damaging his right-front suspension, before heading straight into the tyre wall on the opposite side of the track.

“I crashed,” said the Spaniard. “I’m sorry.” The session was suspended for six minutes as Sainz’s wounded Ferrari was removed from the circuit.

After giving up on this season’s car on the eve of the opening race, Mercedes have arrived for the sixth round in the sun-cooked principality with a new concept.

The Silver Arrows have abandoned their controversial zero-sidepod design and introduced a new front suspension, new floor and cooling system in a change of development on a car which has contributed to the longest losing streak of Hamilton’s career.

On Sunday, it will be 539 days since Hamilton last stood on the top step of the podium at the penultimate round of the contentious 2021 season in Saudi Arabia.

However, on the evidence of practice, the seven-time world champion appears no closer to the front.

Hamilton ended the opening running in third place, but he had dropped to sixth by the conclusion of the day, half-a-second back. George Russell was a disappointing 12th in the other Mercedes, seven tenths adrift.

Verstappen and team-mate Sergio Perez are the only men to have won a race this year and their rapid Red Bull is not necessarily suited to the narrow and slow-speed confines of the unique Monte Carlo configuration.

But, despite Perez managing only seventh in practice, Verstappen’s pace on Friday suggests he might yet be the driver to beat for the remainder of the weekend.

In first practice, the red flags were deployed in the closing minutes when Alex Albon lost control of his Williams through the opening Sainte Devote corner.

The London-born Thai slammed into the wall, but, despite admitting to banging his knees, he emerged relatively unscathed from the 100mph accident.

The same could however not be said for Albon’s Williams following significant damage to the left-hand side of his machine.

He returned to the track with 11 minutes of second practice remaining following a three-hour repair job by his team.

Geraint Thomas will wear the leader’s pink jersey into Saturday’s decisive mountain time trial at the Giro d’Italia after Primoz Roglic could take only a handful of seconds out of the Welshman’s advantage on the Queen stage in the Dolomites.

Thomas and Roglic traded attacks in the final kilometre of this beastly stage but at the very top of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo it was Roglic, who had changed bikes on the approach to the last climb to get better gearing, who was able to open up a three-second gap in the final few metres.

That cuts Thomas’ advantage to just 26 seconds going into Saturday’s race against the clock to the top of the Monte Lussari.

Joao Almeida was distanced in the last couple of hundred metres to concede 20 seconds but the Portuguese comfortably retains his spot on the podium, 59 seconds down, after Irishman Eddie Dunbar fell away late on to lose fourth place overall to Damiano Caruso.

“It was OK,” Thomas said. “When I went with 400 metres to go I realised after 100 that 400 is a long way at this altitude. I just tried to pace it and then Roglic came past in the last 100 metres or so.

“I lost a couple of seconds on the line but it was nice to gain some time on Joao, it will be super close tomorrow. I think it’s going to be exciting to watch, horrible to do.”

Santiago Buitrago took the win from what had been a 12-strong breakaway, again denying Derek Gee, the Canadian who was in a seventh break of this Giro and who had fought until the final 1500 metres before watching the Colombian dance away.

Before the stage began Thomas, who celebrated his 37th birthday on Thursday, had joked he should not still be doing this sort of thing at his age and ought to be on a beach somewhere.

Instead, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was tackling a 183km stage through the Dolomites that included almost five and a half thousand metres of climbing.

The last time the Giro visited this finish 10 years ago, Vincenzo Nibali emerged from a snowstorm at the summit to take a win which effectively sealed his overall victory.

There would be nothing so decisive here given what is still to come on Saturday, but it could be another major test ticked off for Thomas as Roglic could only put a minor dent in his lead.

The Slovenian certainly tried to do more. With 20km to go Roglic stopped to swap bikes, hopping on to a machine with a single ring on the front and a monster 44t sprocket at the back, a sign of his intentions for a finale where gradients hit 16 per cent.

As clear skies gave way to heavy rain and hail, Thomas’s Ineos Grenadiers set their usual strong tempo to whittle down the slim remnants of the peloton.

That did for Dunbar with a couple of kilometres to go. Almeida briefly moved up as riders fought for space on roads packed with excited fans.

Roglic wriggled through but Thomas reacted to stay on his wheel as they reached the sanctuary of the barriers on the approach to the line.

Thomas then made his own move with 400 metres to go and seemed to be leaving Roglic behind, only for the Slovenian to find a final kick at the end and take back three seconds, narrowly failing to catch Magnus Cort who rode in third to take the last of the bonus seconds on the line.

The Jockey Club has been granted a High Court injunction against Animal Rising protesters who plan to disrupt the Betfred Derby at Epsom next weekend.

The application was lodged by the Jockey Club, who own Epsom Downs alongside many other high-profile tracks, as they felt the organisation had made it “explicitly clear” that they intended to breach security at the Surrey racecourse to stage a disruptive protest.

Word of their plans came after disruption to the Grand National at Aintree in April, when the race was delayed by just over 10 minutes after demonstrators made their way onto the track and had to be removed by police.

Officials at the Jockey Club feared the Epsom protest would endanger participants, racegoers and horses – although they state they do not dismiss the right to peaceful protest and have offered Animal Rising an area near the entrance of the racecourse specifically for this purpose on Derby day, June 3.

The injunction granted by High Court judge Sir Anthony Mann prohibits individuals from entering onto the racetrack and carrying out other acts with the intention and/or effect of disrupting the races.

Such acts include intentionally causing objects to enter the racetrack, entering the parade ring, entering and/or remaining on the horses’ route to the parade ring and to the racetrack without authorisation, and intentionally endangering any person at Epsom Downs racecourse during the two-day Derby Festival.

Individuals acting in breach of the court order could be subject to proceedings for contempt of court, which may lead to a fine and/or imprisonment.

The Jockey Club’s chief executive, Nevin Truesdale, said: “Our number one priority will always be to ensure that the safety of all our equine and human participants and racegoers, officials and our own employees is not compromised.

“Animal Rising have repeatedly made it explicitly clear that they intend to break the law and disrupt The Derby Festival and that left us with no choice but to seek this injunction, having consulted with a number of stakeholders including Surrey Police.

“We will never tolerate a repeat of the illegal disruption we saw at Aintree on Grand National day and we welcome today’s High Court ruling, which provides us with an additional layer of security to combat the threat of such dangerous and reckless behaviour.

“We believe everyone should have the right to peaceful protest and have offered Animal Rising an area near the entrance of Epsom Downs racecourse to express their views in a law-abiding way. However, anyone who attempts to disrupt the race or compromise the safety of horses or humans will be dealt with robustly by our security teams and the police.

“As such I now urge Animal Rising to abandon any plans to breach security at The Derby Festival and respect the legitimate right of the thousands of people who will join us at Epsom Downs and the millions of people watching at home and around the world to enjoy the sport they love uninterrupted.”

Aryna Sabalenka could end the French Open as world number one but accepts she will begin it against a player who “hates” her.

The Belarusian won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open and has maintained the momentum, winning the Madrid Open earlier this month and closing the gap on Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings.

Winning a second successive major crown would guarantee Sabalenka the number one spot for the first time but first up comes what will be an awkward encounter against Marta Kostyuk.

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Kostyuk has been the most outspoken Ukrainian player about the sport’s response to the invasion of her home country by Russia and believes Russian and Belarusian players should have been willing to condemn their nations’ actions.

She refuses to shake hands with players from the two countries at the end of matches, but Sabalenka insisted that will not bother her, saying: “I kind of can understand them.

“I imagine (if) they’re going to shake hands with Russians and Belarusians then they’re going to get so many messages from their home country. At the same time, I feel like sports shouldn’t be in politics.

“We’re just athletes. If they feel good with no shaking hands, I’m happy with that.

“I don’t want to waste my energy on this kind of stuff. It’s none of my business. So, if she hates me, OK. I can’t do anything about that.

“There is going to be people who love me, there is going to be people who hate me. If she hates me, I don’t feel anything like that to her.”

Sabalenka has won arguably the two best matches of the season, beating Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final and Swiatek to triumph in Madrid.

Between them, Sabalenka, Swiatek and Rybakina have won seven of the biggest titles of the season so far and hold all four slam trophies, burying the narrative of instability at the top of the women’s game post-Serena Williams.

It would be a major surprise if the winner of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen does not come from that trio and Swiatek, who cruised to her second Roland Garros title last year, said: “For sure it’s a totally different situation than last year.

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“It’s nice to have somebody constantly kind of watching you. We played so many matches against each other that tactically we know our games pretty well. But we also have to come up with some different solutions sometimes, which is pretty exciting, because I never had that yet in my career.

“I think this is what the big three (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) had to do for sure when they played 30 matches against each other or even more.

“So I’m happy to learn some new stuff. And also we are all working really hard to play better and better. It is an extra motivation, for sure.”

Sabalenka will be trying to put thoughts of the number one ranking out of her mind and is enjoying the challenge of the three-way fight.

“I think it’s good for tennis to see the top players consistently doing well,” she said. “I think it’s pushing everybody to the next level and pushing everybody to do better and to play better.

“That’s how I was pushed by Iga last season. I think it’s good for people to watch these kind of matches and to see that top players are reaching the last stages of the tournament.”

Swiatek arrived in Paris under an injury cloud after suffering a thigh problem during her clash with Rybakina in Rome last week but she insisted she will be fit to face Cristina Bucsa in the first round.

“Luckily nothing serious happened, so I had couple of days off,” she said. “I’m still recovering from the thigh injury, but I’ll be good for my first round. That’s the most important thing for me.”

Get Ahead stamped her class on the EBF British Stallion Studs Cecil Frail at Haydock.

Clive Cox’s filly was the 7-4 favourite to strike Listed gold for the first time, having finished third twice at this level last season and again on her reappearance at Bath last month.

She was unable to land a telling blow when sixth in the Group Three Palace House Stakes at Newmarket three weeks ago, but showed her true colours returning to a sounder surface on Merseyside.

The daughter of Showcasing, a half-sister to 2000 Guineas hero Chaldean, travelled strongly throughout the six-furlong contest in the hands of Richard Kingscote, who always appeared confident he had matters well in hand.

Once asked to extend, Get Ahead readily quickened up to grab the lead and she was ultimately good value for the official winning margin of a length and a quarter, with Kape Moss best of the rest in second.

Cox said: “I’m very pleased, she’s a really nice filly and she’s got a lot of speed, so I’m pleased she’s stretched out to the six furlongs well today.

“She’s coming on all the time and maturity has been the answer to her really. She’s a half-sister to Chaldean and it’s a privilege to train a filly with such a quality pedigree.”

When asked about future plans, the trainer added: “Now she’s won a Listed race, we can explore a bit higher. She’s always shown a lot of promise, but with maturity, especially for the fillies, when it’s working for you it’s extremely pleasing.

“We’ll try to stay on the right side of the fence now, she likes quicker ground and it was great that Haydock provided that today.”

Cox and Kingscote were completing a double on the card following the earlier success of Spirit Of The Bay in the curtain-raising Tyldeseley Handicap.

Dan Evans has criticised the state of British tennis and believes Emma Raducanu’s success has papered over the cracks.

There will only be three British players in the singles main draws at the French Open starting on Sunday and, for the first time since 2008, no women.

Of the 10 British players in qualifying, none made the final round, while 2021 US Open champion Raducanu joined Andy Murray in withdrawing having undergone surgery on both her wrists and one ankle.

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Speaking ahead of his first-round clash with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis, Evans said: “They’ve been lucky that they had a grand slam champion and she’s a very good tennis player but the rankings don’t lie, do they?

“Men’s or women’s, the rankings don’t lie. Men’s, not many of us playing qualis, not many main draw. I don’t want to sound like a broken record. But there’s way further to go than just the top players. It’s from the bottom up.

“We’re in a massive, massive habit of sending people to college now. I don’t think that massively helps. It’ll be interesting. I think the grass last year really helped paper over some cracks as well. After the grass, there will be a bit of soul-searching I imagine, after their holidays.”

Evans has been a long-time critic of the domestic set-up and recently criticised some of his fellow British players for not competing enough and being willing to grind out life on the tour.

A late bloomer after serving a drugs ban and admitting to enjoying the party lifestyle too much, Evans knows well both the pitfalls and what it takes to achieve success.

The world number 24 said: “You’ve got to work hard. I know what it’s like to not work hard and what you get from that and I know what it’s like to work hard and get decent rewards.

“I’m not sitting here saying I know the answers. I have a fair idea of the answers and I would do it very differently to what’s happening now I think. There’s enough people playing junior tennis. We just don’t help them.”

Evans reserved his strongest ire for former Lawn Tennis Association performance director Simon Timson – now occupying the same role with Manchester City – who was the architect of a performance strategy that heavily funds a small number of players.

“It’s just heartbreaking that a guy next door to you is getting 70 grand or something, but you’re better than him,” said Evans. “But a guy with these stats is telling you, ‘No, no, he’s better’.

“You can look who has been on PSP (Pro Scholarship Programme, the highest level of support). It’s hardly flourishing reading is it? And that’s what I think we need to (do) – get a bigger pool and just pool it all in and get going. It’s simple maths. But Simon Timson, he was the mastermind of it all.

“I couldn’t give a s**t about it. Simon Timson sat next to me and told me, ‘In all due respect to James Ward and Heather Watson, I put you three in the same bracket. You are close to finishing your career.’ And I said, ‘Thanks man’. That was that meeting.

“And I seem to have done all right since that meeting. He sent me to a psychologist, that was about it. I told him that it was a stepping stone, the job, and that’s exactly what it was. He wouldn’t be there in three years and he wasn’t. He didn’t know what he was watching.”

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Evans is certainly an example of what can be achieved with hard work and the right attitude, and he will hope to continue his improvement on clay when he takes on Kokkinakis on Sunday.

The British number two has lost his last three matches but reached the semi-finals of clay tournaments in Marrakech and Barcelona.

He joked of his relationship with the surface: “We had a good week at the start, and then we’ve not been on talking terms really, sleeping in separate beds.

“No, it’s been good. I feel comfortable. I’ve been playing good. It’s probably helped having an Argentinian coach, little intricacies, which the British probably don’t know because they’re not so brought up on the clay.”

Little Big Bear bids to get his season back on track in a fascinating renewal of the Betfred Nifty Fifty Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.

Narrowly beaten on his debut last spring, Aidan O’Brien’s colt went on to win his next four races, with a stunning display in the Phoenix Stakes ensuring he ended the year as Europe’s champion juvenile.

Following nine months off the track, O’Brien decided to roll the dice in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket three weeks ago, but the son of No Nay Never pulled fiercely for his head in the rain-softened ground on the Rowley Mile and eventually passed the post last of 14 runners.

Despite that disappointing performance, Little Big Bear is a hot favourite to get back on the winning trail on Merseyside, returning to six furlongs on a quickening surface in the hands of Frankie Dettori.

O’Brien said: “We’re looking forward to seeing him run again.

“It was a possibility that he’d return to sprinting and the Guineas was just a little bit of a non-event for him.

“We felt that if he was going to go for the Commonwealth (Cup at Royal Ascot), then he had to have a run back sprinting before then, so that is why he’s back here.

“It will be nice to get him back on a bit of nice ground and we’ve been very happy with him at home, obviously the Guineas wasn’t that long ago but we’re happy with what he’s done since.”

Little Big Bear is unlikely to have things all his own way in the six-furlong Group Two, with a clutch of high-class contenders prepared to take him on.

The horse rated the biggest threat by bookmakers is the Archie Watson-trained Bradsell, who was brilliant in winning the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer and then suffered a season-ending injury when fourth behind Little Big Bear in the Phoenix Stakes.

There was plenty of encouragement to be taken from his comeback run when third behind the reopposing Cold Case in the Commonwealth Cup Trial at Ascot and Watson expects him to strip fitter for that run.

“I’m very happy with him. He travelled very well at Ascot and got a bit tired late, which was to be expected. I hope he can take a good step forwards fitness-wise from there,” said the Lambourn handler.

“It looks a very strong trial for the Commonwealth Cup. I’d say whatever wins will be the one to beat at Ascot, so at least we’ll all know after the weekend.

“We’re delighted with our horse, so fingers crossed.”

Cold Case’s trainer Karl Burke is expecting another bold showing from his charge, despite having reservations about underfoot conditions.

He said: “It looks a competitive race, but he’s in great form.

“Quicker ground is probably slightly against him, but he’s going to have to face that at some stage and we are very happy with him at home.

“Fingers crossed he can run a big race.”

Little Big Bear is one of two Irish-trained runners along with Kieran Cotter’s Matilda Picotte.

The Sioux Nation filly drops back in distance following an excellent effort to finish third in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier in the month.

“Her Guineas run puts her in the picture and we should be bang there. Her run in Newmarket was an exceptional performance off the pace she set,” said Cotter.

“In an ideal situation we would have liked a bit of rain, but she handled quick ground when she ran at York in the Lowther and she is pretty versatile.

“We’re looking forward to it and hope we come home with a bit of sterling.”

George Boughey saddles Al Dasim, who won three times at Meydan earlier in the year before finishing down the field in the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night.

Norfolk Stakes winner The Ridler (Richard Fahey), Shouldvebeenaring (Richard Hannon) and Mill Stream (Jane Chapple-Hyam) complete the quality field.

Cameron Norrie’s title defence in Lyon ended with a one-sided loss to Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event.

More concerning than the 6-3 6-0 defeat, though, was Norrie’s physical condition, with the British number one clutching his stomach at points during the second set.

Norrie is Britain’s main hope for success at the French Open, where he is due to start his campaign on Monday against eccentric Frenchman Benoit Paire.

The 27-year-old won his fourth ATP title in Lyon last year but dropped serve in the opening game against Cerundolo and never looked like getting back into the contest.

It appeared he might retire when he headed to his bench during the opening game of the second set but Norrie did at least manage to finish the match.

Renowned for his physical prowess, Norrie must now concentrate on trying to ensure he is fully fit for the year’s second grand slam.