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ByHowardFendrich TheAssociatedPress PARIS For the third match in a row at the French Open, Ser- ena Williams was oddly out of sorts at the outset and dropped the opening set. And for the third match in a row, almost as though this was the plan all along, Williams righted herself to pull out a victory. In a riveting, two-hour showdown between the last two American women in the draw, the No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seeded Williams was a game away from defeat Monday, then came back to beat Sloane Ste- phens 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. Williams reached the quar- terfinals and avoided joining defending champion Maria Sharapova on the way out of Roland Garros. "It's not how you start, I guess. It's how you finish," Wil- liams said. "That's kind of how I'm looking at it." Close as it was, thanks in large part to Williams' 43 un- forced errors, more than twice as many as Stephens' 21, the eventual outcome seemed cer- tain once Williams pulled even by taking the second set. That's because she is 10-0 in three-setters this season. Williams is 29-1 overall in 2015 and owns an 18-match Grand Slam winning streak, including championships at the U.S. Open and Australian Open that gave her 19 major singles trophies. The 1999 U.S. Open, when she FRENCH OPEN WilliamstopsStephens; Djokovic-Nadalontap Defending champion Sharapova knocked out CHRISTOPHEENA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Serena Williams of the U.S. reacts as she defeats compatriot Sloane Stephens during their fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Monday in Paris. Williams won 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. DAVID VINCENT — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to France's Richard Gasquet during their fourth round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Monday in Paris, France. By Fred Goodall The Associated Press TAMPA,FLA. The NHL playoffs have been a roller coaster of ex- citement, punctuated by a pair of Game 7s over the weekend to decide the Stanley Cup finalists. It'll be Tampa Bay vs. Chi- cago in the best-of-seven series that begins Wednesday night, with the tradition-rich Black- hawks aiming for a third title in six years. Some might say it would be better theater or more inter- esting to have New York rep- resented on the sport's big- gest stage rather than one of the league's smaller markets, but don't sell the Eastern Con- ference champion Lightning short when it comes to hockey appeal. The NHL is not only alive in the football-crazed South, it's thriving on the west coast of Florida, where an entertain- ing band of young stars and a hot goalie have packed Ama- lie Arena game after game while barreling through three other Original Six franchises to reach the Cup final for the sec- ond time. While the Blackhawks have Jonathan Toews and Pat- rick Kane, the Lightning fea- ture two-time NHL goal-scor- ing champion Steven Stamkos and the youthful, but dynamic STANLEY CUP Lightning prove they belong on biggest stage Best-of-seven series begins Wednesday night CHRIS O'MEARA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle, le , backhands a shot on goalie Ben Bishop during practice for the NHL hockey's Stanley Cup finals Monday in Tampa, Fla. The Lightning will take on the Chicago Blackhawks beginning Wednesday. Staff Reports COTTONWOOD Corning High's Kaylee Shoemaker and Alex Da- vila each notched first-place fin- ishes at the Northern Section CIF Track and Field Champion- ships at West Valley High on Fri- day, earning their way to the state meet at Buchanan High in Clovis this weekend. Shoemaker, a junior, won a trip to state after she placed first in the girls' high jump at 5-3. "It's still unbelievable. I'm still kind of shaking right now," Shoe- maker told the Chico Enterprise- Record. "Ugh, I can't even believe it. I've been wanting to go to that this whole year." According to the Chico newspa- per, Shoemaker entered Friday's high jump event with a personal best of 5-6, placing her in the Top 10 across the state. Davila, also a junior, won the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.46. Gridley's Taylor Miskin was sec- ond in 40.72, and Willows' Denzel Ibrahim was third in 40,74. Davila placed fourth in shot put at 44-10. In other results, Red Bluff's Daisy Brose placed third in the girls' 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.14. Red Bluff's Naomi Renfroe placed sixth in the girls' 1,600-me- ter run with a time of 5:33.74. In the 3,200-meter run, Ren- froe placed third with a time of 11:57.46. Corning's Grace Mora placed fifth in the girls' pole vault at 8-06. Red Bluff's Martin Hernandez TRACK AND FIELD Corning High athletes earn trips to state Shoemaker, Davila shine at Northern Section finals By Antonio Gonzalez The Associated Press OAKLAND Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson is one step away from being cleared to play in the NBA Finals. Thompson returned to prac- tice Monday, a major step in the All-Star shooting guard's re- covery. Thompson said he feels great and is just waiting on final clearance from doctors under the NBA's concussion protocol to play in Game 1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night. "I expect to be (cleared)," Thompson said. "I'm well on my way there. I haven't been cleared yet, but I fully expect to be in the next couple days." So long as Thompson remains symptom free, the team said he will be cleared to play in the fi- nals. Thompson suffered a concus- sion after getting kneed in the head by Houston's Trevor Ariza in Golden State's Western Confer- ence finals clinching win Wednes- day night. Team doctors initially cleared Thompson to return to the game. He ended up not play- ing, and the team said he started developing symptoms after the game. Thompson's father, former NBA player Mychal Thompson, had to drive his son home because he was feeling ill — including vom- iting a couple of times. He also needed stitches on his right ear after the hit caused blood to spill down the side of his head. "It looked much worse than it was," Thompson said. "Honestly, I only had one tough night, and NBA FINALS Thompson returns to practice In the House of Commons, they're calling for Sepp Blatter's head. And even inside the FIFA president's own executive committee, there is the threat of resignation. FIFA Blatter,Federation facing more criticism FULLSTORYONPAGEB2 The Chico Lions Breakfast Club high school all-star so - ball and baseball games are set for Saturday at Doryland Field in Chico. The so ball game starts at 11a.m., and the baseball game begins at 3p.m. HIGH SCHOOL Lions Club all-star games set for Saturday The Spartan Soccer Camp for boys and girls in eighth through 12grades is sched- uled to be held July 13-23. For more information, visit http:// bit.ly/1FBCVIk. SOCCER Spartan Soccer Camp set for July 13-23 Get your puzzles fix with the NEA Crossword, 7Little Words and Celebrity Cipher, start your day off right with your horoscope, and read the latest advice doled out by Amy Dickinson. YOUR DAILY BREAK Fun and games inside today PAGE B3 TRACK PAGE 2 FRENCH PAGE 2 STANLEY PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, June 2, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1