Manchester United are braced for a bid from Paris Saint-Germain for David De Gea after the French side announced Gianluigi Buffon will leave the club this summer, sources have told ESPN FC.

De Gea has a year left on his contract and negotiations over a new long-term deal have stalled. United have privately insisted they will not cash in this summer but there are fears their resolve will be severely tested by a big-money move from PSG.

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Buffon will leave the Ligue 1 champions a year after arriving from Juventus, leaving coach Thomas Tuchel with just Alphonse Areola as his senior goalkeeper. Buffon and Areola shared goalkeeping duties last season.

De Gea has also been linked with Juventus and Real Madrid but sources have told ESPN FC that United fear PSG pose the most serious threat. There are doubts about whether Juventus could afford the deal while there is a belief at Old Trafford that Real Madrid's transfer priorities lie elsewhere.

PSG, who are also interested in Keylor Navas, have the funds to tempt United with a large fee and offer De Gea a lucrative wage packet while giving the 28-year-old the chance to win trophies and challenge for the Champions League.

United have been in contract talks with Spain's No.1, whose form dipped sharply during the second half of the season, for more than a year but terms have not been agreed and he could walk away for free next summer.

De Gea, who is open to staying at the club, has been offered a five-year deal worth £350,000-a-week but an agreement is yet to be reached.

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He also entered the last year of his deal in 2015 and was on the brink of joining Real Madrid before the transfer broke down at the last minute.

Sources have told ESPN FC that Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak and AC Milan's Gianluigi Donnarumma are on United's radar if they decide to sell De Gea.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would also be open to handing Sergio Romero the No.1 spot while there are also high hopes for 22-year-old Dean Henderson, who helped Sheffield United secure promotion to the Premier League during a loan spell at Bramall Lane last season.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter said his side's 1-0 friendly defeat to Jamaica was "really something to learn from" though he admitted that "we performed poorly tonight."

Jamaica was full value for its victory, with Shamar Nicholson scoring the game's only goal in the 60th minute following a U.S. turnover in its own defensive third. U.S. forward Joshua Sargent had a late chance to equalize, but his effort was saved by Jamaica keeper Andre Blake.

"What I would say is that the guys tried," he said. "We gave a decent effort. We didn't play well, and you're going to have nights when you don't play well."

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With most of the roster having just arrived into camp last weekend, the U.S. was playing without much of its first-choice lineup. That reality was exacerbated by the fact that LA Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget has been ruled out of the Gold Cup with a hamstring injury. So Berhalter also trotted out what he called a 3-4-2-1 formation, one that saw Cristian Roldan and Djordje Mihailovic play as attacking midfielders in support of lone striker Sargent.

But even with those factors, this was a performance to forget for the Americans. The first 20 minutes started brightly enough, with the U.S. getting behind the Jamaican defense on several occasions. The Reggae Boyz soon tightened up their defense and began to find some chances on the counter. With Jamaica ratcheting up its defensive pressure in the second half, the U.S. struggled, and the visitors soon got the goal it needed through Nicholson.

The night's action left Berhalter defending his choice of formation and personnel. The U.S. manager wanted to make sure he had an alternative alignment that was familiar to his players when the Gold Cup arrives.

"One of the objectives of this first camp was to play an alternate formation, so we achieved that," he said. "I think there's tweaks we can make to that formation better, make it function better. But overall, that was positive. The negative was that we lacked speed. We lacked aggression in the final third. When you talk about when the ball is wide, there should be four guys in the penalty box, and we only had two most of the time. Even when we won the ball in good positions, now it's time to counter, now it's time to really force ourselves on the opponent. We didn't do that."

Berhalter also said that the fact that the U.S. will name its final 23-man Gold Cup roster later tonight had a negative effect on some players.

"The roster was pretty much intact from our point of view," he said. "But when there's a deadline, when you're naming a roster, it weighs on people. I think we saw some of that. I don't think any of those guys will make excuses. I'm not going to make excuses. We know we need to improve. We know we need to get better. We know we need to be I think more aggressive in the final third. We had one shot on goal today. That's pretty poor, and we know that."

The fact that Berhalter had so little of his first-choice lineup wasn't a deterrent, especially with the experience he had at his disposal in the back.

"It's guys that are full internationals, you're talking about Tim Ream, Matt Miazga and Omar [Gonzalez]. With them in particular we wanted to see how that would work with the center-backs. When you throw a guy like Antonee Robinson, who has that ability I think to be a wing-back with his speed and his aggression and his crossing ability, we had enough pieces in the camp the week before to give it a try."

The result will do little to placate a fanbase whose emotions are still raw form the failure to qualify for the last World Cup. But Berhalter is undaunted.

"I'm not sure it should be that volatile that you turn against a team after one poor performance," he said. "There's going to be more, especially as time goes on, there will be more poor performances when I'm coach. I guarantee it. That's part of it. Are the guys bought in? Are they working hard? Are we executing the kind of soccer we're trying to execute? We're getting there."

ORANGEBURG, N.Y. -- Whether it is on the training ground or following a match, Maxime Chanot always leaves the field the same way. The New York City FC center-back, one of the longest-tenured players on the team, drops to one knee and lifts his eyes toward the heavens. What follows for Chanot is an intricate ritual that lasts several minutes, a prayer in which he thanks God not just for the game of soccer but for the path it paved for him to escape poverty.

NYCFC in turn should be thankful for Chanot, a fixture of its defense who has played every minute of this season and turned in several dominating performances so far.

The 29-year-old's rugged defending and crisp distribution in transition haven't grabbed the headlines of the former face of NYCFC, David Villa. Now in his fourth season in MLS, Chanot has become a constant at the club -- even serving as captain last year when Villa was injured -- and his emergence this season as one of the league's best center-backs has helped propel NYCFC in recent weeks.

A team once known for fielding stars is now effectively navigating MLS via its back line, and the Luxembourg international is the centerpiece of a very solid defensive group. It's working, too: New York City's 15 goals conceded are the fourth fewest in the league.

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Familiarity has been a key component to that success, with Chanot and central defensive partner Alexander Callens now in their third season together. Their understanding is paving the way: NYCFC is unbeaten in its past nine games and has conceded just seven goals in that span. After a rough start to the year, it's back among the Eastern Conference playoff places where it belong.

When asked about his form, Chanot is quick to credit his teammates and the stability of the back line, but he also talks about how MLS has forced him to become a more complete player, growing beyond simply man-marking and winning balls.

"I have to be honest with myself and improve on the ball since I've been in New York," Chanot told ESPN FC. "If I compare myself this season in 2019 and compare them before I came here ... I'm more comfortable with the ball. It makes me better as a football player."

That a player capped 32 times by his country has experienced growth in MLS runs counter to the narrative that it's a retirement league. Chanot embraces the idea that Major League Soccer has aided his development as a player. Having played in the first or second divisions in England, France and Belgium prior to his move to the U.S., Chanot points to MLS as the place where he began to grow beyond simply defending.

In Belgium, Chanot was told by a coach that "defending is hard, so just focus on defending." Playing in a system in which the center-backs are expected to be a part of the possession meant that Chanot had to not just adapt but evolve.

"At this club, we like to play out of the back. You need to not only be a good defender but be a good attacker, if I can say, with the ball," Chanot said. "It's a little bit tougher than over in Europe, because in Europe, I only focused on my defending side. In New York, we have to do both.

"I'm happy to play the game the way we do in New York, and it makes me improve myself."

More than his fitness in 2019 -- Chanot has yet to play more than 19 matches in his three full seasons in MLS, but he'll likely eclipse his MLS single-season bests in matches and minutes played by July -- is his versatility that's helping NYCFC. Head coach Domenec Torrent lauds his ability to play three different spots along a three- or four-man back line. Torrent calls Chanot "a leader" who with Callens "are maybe the best center-backs in the league ... that's my opinion."

"For me, [Chanot] is much better than last year," Torrent said. "[Last year] he had a lot of problems. He had pain in the back all the time. He's not 100 percent sometimes, but when his back is better, he has more confidence."

Chanot also feels "at home" with this club, turning down offers from Europe to stay in MLS.

"It was a move forward for me, from Belgium to MLS," Chanot said. "I am very happy with this league, with the way that I've grown."

"What initially drew Chanot to NYCFC in 2016 was the opportunity to play alongside the likes of Villa and Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard. None of those three are still with the club, but Chanot has been an anchor amid plenty of change as the team has shifted away from being built upon superstar signings.

"I have [had] the chance to play in the Premier League and a championship team in England with Sheffield [United]. I had the chance to play in France with a first- and second-division team. I had a chance to play in Belgium. From Belgium, I think MLS is better."

PORTO -- When you haven't won a major trophy of any description since 1966, literally anything will do to end that barren run. So England will certainly celebrate success in the inaugural UEFA Nations League if Gareth Southgate's team emerge as winners in Portugal this week.

It may feel like international football's version of the Community Shield or UEFA Super Cup -- nobody would suggest the Nations League will become a rival to the World Cup or European Championship as a trophy that really matters for Europe's major nations -- but you have to be in it to win it, and England's presence alongside Switzerland, Netherlands and hosts Portugal is another sign of their progress as an emerging force.

England's disastrous Euro 2016 campaign, which ended with elimination at the hands of minnows Iceland in the round of 16, seems a long time ago. Now, 12 months on from reaching the World Cup semifinals in Russia when they were eliminated by Croatia, England face another semi when they meet the Dutch in Guimaraes on Thursday (live on ESPN2 at 7.45 BST/2.45 ET) determined to win the competition and use it as a staging post for their Euro 2020 campaign and assault on the next World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Simply being in the Nations League's final four is a sign of England's development towards becoming a team to be feared on the global stage once again.

Southgate's players topped a group containing Spain and Croatia to make it to the finals, winning impressively against Spain in Seville before securing qualification with a cathartic 2-1 victory at home to the Croatians in November, which went some way to avenging the defeat in Moscow four months earlier.

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Beating Spain and Croatia in competitive fixtures were big moments for this England team and they ensured the feelgood factor generated in Russia was extended to this summer.

"It's a new tournament, but it's still a chance to win a trophy in an England shirt," England captain Harry Kane, who is fit to play after recovering from injury at the end of the season, told UEFA.com. "1966 was a long time ago, so we're going to try and take full advantage. We all want to win trophies and have the experience of sharing that with the group and the fans, so it's a huge incentive.

"If we go on and win, it will be another stepping stone to go on to achieve big things in the future. Winning trophies breeds that mentality to go on to do more and more, so it's a chance for us to start early and try to achieve that."

However, despite reaching the semifinals in Russia, England still have some way to go. The World Cup brought an end to a series of hugely disappointing campaigns at major tournaments -- it was the first time England had won a knockout fixture since the 2006 World Cup -- but there was also a sense that Southgate's players fell short against the first top team they faced (Croatia) after navigating a soft route through the latter stages.

Overall though, the campaign in Russia was one of progress and helped to instil a newfound confidence in the side. England now have genuine hopes of success at Euro 2020 and Qatar 2022 on the back of last summer, which is why the Nations League is so important to Southgate's team.

Netherlands, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Kevin Strootman and Daley Blind adding experience to the emerging talents of Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong and Donny van de Beek, will pose a tough first hurdle, but England are now stronger than a year ago.

Fifteen players remain from the World Cup squad, and the bulk of them will still be young enough to form the nucleus of Southgate's squad in Qatar.

Kane returned from Russia with the Golden Boot as top scorer, Raheem Sterling has become a contender for this year's Ballon d'Or with his performances for Manchester City and England this season, while 20-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold travels to Portugal having just played his second Champions League final in a row with Liverpool, emerging with a winners' medal this time around.

Experience is growing within the squad and Southgate's players are becoming accustomed to performing, and winning, on the biggest stage -- seven of England's Nations League squad played in the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham.

There is also a batch of exciting new talent within Southgate's squad: Jadon Sancho (19), Declan Rice (20) and Ben Chilwell (22) have all made the cut for Portugal, while Marcus Rashford (21) plays in his third summer tournament for England.

A win against the Dutch would set up a final against Portugal in Porto on Sunday (live on ESPN at 8.45 p.m. BST/3.45 p.m. ET) and give England the opportunity to end their 53-year wait for international success. And while it won't truly sate the appetite for a major honour, success would be a huge moment for this England team as they prepare for greater challenges ahead.

AB de Villiers made a remarkable last-ditch offer to come out of international retirement for this summer's World Cup, but it was turned down by the South Africa team management on the eve of their final squad announcement. Their thinking was that a recall would, among other things, be unfair to the squad that had been together for the past year since de Villiers announced his retirement.

ESPNcricinfo understands that the offer was made in April, just 24 hours before South Africa's selectors unveiled their final 15-man squad for the World Cup. De Villiers did not want to comment on the story, but said he was "wholly focussed" on supporting the South Africa team*. He reiterated his support for South Africa in a tweet.

All that's important is that we should all focus on supporting the team at the World Cup. There is a long way to go and I believe the boys can still go all the way #ProteaFire

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) June 6, 2019

De Villiers is believed to have approached South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis, head coach Ottis Gibson and convener of selectors Linda Zondi, expressing his desire to reverse his retirement, but was told that this would not be possible. According to people privy to the talks, de Villiers' request was "not even considered".

It is understood that there were two main reasons behind the team management and selectors' decision. Primarily, de Villiers had retired in May 2018, exactly a year before the World Cup was scheduled. Thereafter, he did not fulfil the selection criteria, which included playing South African domestic cricket or international cricket in the intervening months.

It was also felt that a recall for de Villiers would have been unfair on the players who have been performing in his absence, men such as Rassie van der Dussen, who made three fifties in his first four ODI innings after making his debut against Pakistan in January.

Zondi later responded to the news, confirming that the above were the reasons why de Villiers was turned down.

The revelation comes amid a calamitous start to South Africa's World Cup campaign, which has featured three defeats in a row - including Wednesday's six-wicket loss to India at the Hampshire Bowl - in addition to the loss of another of their all-time great players, Dale Steyn, who withdrew from the squad this week due to a shoulder injury.

South Africa may now need to win all six of its remaining group fixtures, starting with Monday's clash against West Indies in Southampton, just to give themselves a chance of reaching the World Cup semi-finals.

The situation has led many South African fans to demand an emergency recall for de Villiers, who made 9577 runs at 53.50 in his ODI career, including a world-record 31-ball hundred against West Indies in January 2015. The fact that he could indeed have been available to his country will add to the impression of a squad in the throes of another World Cup crisis.

Last year, in a video posted on Twitter, de Villiers called time on his 14-year international career with immediate effect, stating that he was "tired" and "running out of gas".

"For me, in green and gold, it must be everything or nothing," he said. "I will always be grateful to my team-mates, the coaches and the staff of Cricket South Africa for their support through all these years."

Although he turned 35 in February, he demonstrated his enduring class with 442 runs at 44.20 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the recent IPL, and he is due to link up with Middlesex in the T20 Blast immediately after the World Cup.

More recently, however, de Villiers has been dropping hints that he would be willing to renege on his decision. Speaking on Indian TV in May, around the time of his World Cup offer, he stated: "I was keen to play in the World Cup, but I left, I retired.

"It was a very sensitive situation," he added. "For the last three years of my career, I was labelled as a guy who is picking and choosing when I was playing and when not. So I got quite a lot of criticism from back home, which also played a role in me retiring.

"And it was difficult for me to then go 'Hey, but I'll still play the World Cup'. It's that picking and choosing thing again, and it's quite arrogant to do something like that. But as they say, you can't have your bread buttered on both sides."

Around the same time, in May this year, speaking to Live Mint, de Villiers had also compared the IPL and the World Cup, saying the IPL was the better tournament. "Nothing comes close to the IPL, to be honest," de Villiers had said. "I know I am sitting in India and busy playing in the IPL, so it's easy to say. But I have played in quite a few (tournaments) now across the world. I think it's better than the World Cup.

"It's the most incredible tournament to be part of... It's so intense, so fast, and the following is just incredible."

*June 6, 0822 GMT. The article was updated to include a reaction from AB de Villiers

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Following the report on ESPNcricinfo that AB de Villiers wanted to come out of retirement for the World Cup but was turned down by the South African management, Cricket South Africa's selection panel convener, Linda Zondi, issued the following statement.

"I pleaded with AB de Villiers not to retire in 2018. Although there was a perception that he was picking and choosing when to play [for South Africa] - which was not true - I did give him the option to plan and monitor his season to get him to the World Cup fresh and in a good space. We made it clear that he would have to play during the home tours against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to be considered for selection, instead he signed to play in the Pakistan and Bangladesh Premier Leagues respectively. He turned down the offer and said he was at peace with his decision to retire.

"For Faf du Plessis and Ottis Gibson to share AB's desire to be included in the squad on the day we announced our World Cup squad on April 18th was a shock to all of us. AB left a big vacuum when he retired, we had a year to find players at franchise level to fill the gap. We had players who put in the hard work, who put up their hands and deserved to be given the opportunity to go to the World Cup. The decision was based on principle; we had to be fair to the team, the selection panel, our franchise system and players.

"At no point in the year that he had retired did he make himself available for selection. It was no option when I received the news on the day of the squad announcement, our squad was finalised and confirmed. AB is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world but above all else, we have to stay true to our morals and principles; there is no regret in the decision."

Alex Wakely has resigned as captain of Northamptonshire in both red-ball and white-ball cricket with immediate effect.

His decision ends a period in which the club won the domestic T20 title twice - making Wakely the first captain in Northants' history to lift two major trophies.

Under Wakely's leadership, Northants became one of the most popular T20 sides in county history as a heavyweight squad attracted growing admiration.

Off the field, he encouraged a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere which helped to revive a small and financially-stressed county, and by doing so turned the club into one of the happiest in the country.

Adam Rossington will take charge of the side for the Specsavers County Championship match away to Durham next week, with Josh Cobb leading the Vitality Blast campaign.

"It's been an honour and a privilege to captain Northamptonshire over the past few years but now I feel it's time for someone new to have that honour," Wakely said. "It's not a decision I've taken lightly. I've deliberated long and hard with family and friends for several weeks."

A product of Northamptonshire's academy and England's captain in the 2008 Under-19s World Cup, Wakely took charge of the one-day side in 2013 whilst also becoming vice-captain under Stephen Peters in the Championship.

That summer saw the Steelbacks claim the T20 honours at Edgbaston and also achieve promotion to Division One in four-day cricket for the first time in a decade.

After missing the entire 2014 season through injury, Wakely was appointed captain in all formats in 2015. The following season, despite continuing financial constraints, Northamptonshire repeated their T20 triumph in Birmingham.

In 2017 the team responded to Wakely's insistence that they were 'fed up with being average' in the Championship and surprised many observers by logging nine victories in 14 games (the club's second-highest percentage of wins in the competition, exceeded only in 1995) and sustaining a promotion challenge through to the final day of the campaign.

But those standards have begun to fall away and Wakely's disillusioned comments after another bad day with bat or ball had become increasingly common, culminating in an innings defeat against Glamorgan at Wantage Road.

He led the side 198 times in all formats (a figure surpassed only by Geoff Cook, Jim Watts and Allan Lamb) and his tally of 20 first-class victories ranks him as one of the club's top ten most successful skippers in the longer game since 1905.

"Wakers is one of the best blokes in cricket, nobody has a bad word to say about him, said head coach David Ripley. "His captaincy record is there for all to see: trophies in the bag. I look forward to seeing him go on for many years as a player where he still has loads to offer."

Northamptonshire's chairman Gavin Warren said: "Alex led the team during a period of financial challenge. He will go down in the history books as one of our outstanding leaders."

Somerset 344 and 153 (Hildreth 64, Dunn 5-43) beat Surrey 231 (Patel 63, Foakes 57) and 164 (Burns 48, Brooks 5-33) by 102 runs

A thrilling burst of three wickets in seven balls by Jack Brooks propelled Somerset towards a 102-run victory against Surrey at Guildford that will fuel dreams in the West Country of a historic first County Championship title.

Surrey were bowled out for 164 in their second innings, losing eight wickets on the final morning in just over an hour and a half. It is Somerset's fourth win from five matches this season, and takes them to the top of the Division One table with a lead of 15 points over second-placed Hampshire.

Fast bowler Brooks removed nightwatchman Gareth Batty and then claimed the prized scalps of South African Test batsman Dean Elgar and England wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes in a spell of 5-1-11-3 in the first 45 minutes of a final day that began with champions Surrey, at 99 for 2, needing another 168 runs to beat the team who finished runners-up to them last season.

Having slid to 120 for 5 as a result of Brooks' triple strike, which gave him overall figures of 5 for 33, Surrey then took further heavy blows from seamer Tim Groenewald, who bowled Scott Borthwick for 45 with his first ball and followed up by pinning Will Jacks leg-before in his second over.

Left-hander Borthwick, who started the day on 35 and had featured in a second wicket stand of 72 in 27 overs with his captain, Rory Burns, on the third evening to raise Surrey hopes, was undone by a superb ball which swung back into him. Jacks, who made 0, had no answer to a nip-backer.

It was swing, too, which Brooks found from the Railway End to undermine Surrey's chase in spectacular fashion. Batty, who had begun by edging Brooks safely past third slip for four and had gone to 14 by cover-driving Craig Overton for another boundary, was bowled aiming to pull a ball that was far too full for the shot.

Elgar was also bowled, off the inside edge for a third ball duck, as he tried to dig out a full delivery that curved back into him and Foakes, on 2, nicked a lovely away-swinger and was brilliantly caught low down by Marcus Trescothick at second slip.

Groenewald picked up a third wicket when Rikki Clarke drove at an outswinger and edged to keeper Steven Davies, who took a good tumbling catch in front of first slip, and the end was near for Surrey when Ryan Patel, having swatted Craig Overton over mid wicket for six to go to 27, wafted a catch to gully later in the same over as he tried to engineer a stroke to keep the strike.

It was all over at 12.34pm when Morne Morkel lofted Craig Overton straight to mid off to go for 2, giving the bowler figures of 2 for 59. Groenewald finished with 3 for 29. Somerset took 22 points, and Surrey 4.

"I just could not be prouder of the boys, and this was a massive win for us," said Tom Abell, Somerset's captain. "Surrey had eight Test players in their team and after yesterday I would probably have preferred to be in their position coming into today.

"But we said in the dressing room before play that if we bowled better than we did yesterday evening and started to build bowling partnerships then we could put them under pressure and that's exactly what we did. The bowling unit were outstanding today, and as captain you know that they will give you everything.

Surrey captain Rory Burns said: "Obviously it's very disappointing that we could not bat better today and get to that target, having bowled so well to get back into the match yesterday.

"There are lots of little things holding us back at the moment, and dropping Bartlett on 0 in the first innings clearly did not help us. That was a crucial moment in the context of this game,

"As a batting group, we are seeming to find ways of getting out and I think we did show at times that this was not an unplayable pitch. But, when you are the two batters out there, you have to seize that moment and build partnerships.

"We know we have to start getting things right, as a batting unit and as a team, but we are certainly not giving up on defending the title. We have played five matches, so there are nine games to go and we will be aiming to win all of them - that's the attitude we will take into the rest of the season, starting next week here at Guildford against Yorkshire."

PARIS -- In the latest surprise at a French Open filled with them, defending champion Simona Halep was knocked out in the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova on Thursday.

"The pressure was on," said Halep, saying she felt "nerves, a little bit stressed. ... Maybe expectations from myself were big today and maybe I couldn't handle the tension in my body, so I couldn't move my best."

The 51st-ranked Anisimova's first Grand Slam semifinal will come against another player making her debut in that round of a major: No. 8 seed Ashleigh Barty.

The Australian advanced by beating No. 14 Madison Keys of the United States 6-3, 7-5.

The other semifinal scheduled for Friday is No. 26 Johanna Konta of Britain against unseeded 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. Because a full day of play was lost to rain Wednesday, the women's semifinals -- normally Thursday, one after another in the main stadium -- will be played simultaneously on the second- and third-largest courts. The biggest arena will host the men's semifinals, including the much-anticipated matchup between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Barty will face Anisimova on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, while Konta takes on Vondrousova on Court Simonne-Mathieu. Play on both courts is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time, allowing both winners to have an equal amount of rest leading into Saturday's final. Being fair to the players was top of mind for French Open tournament director Guy Forget.

"If I was [one of the women] playing in that stage today, I would rather play on a smaller court -- although everyone says that Simonne-Mathieu is a magnificent court -- knowing that I will have enough time to rest, at least the same of my opponent the following day, because the finals is what I'm playing for," Forget, a former professional tennis player, told reporters Wednesday. "You know, you're afraid that some players might feel that it's a lack of respect [by moving one match to a smaller court] or we are just trying to diminish -- no. Ideally, when you see historically what has happened in the tournament, we try to be fair to everyone."

Not only has none of the four remaining women won a Grand Slam trophy, none has participated in a major singles final.

"I can't believe it. I mean, I've been working so hard, but I didn't think it would pay off like this," said Anisimova, already the first tennis player born in the 2000s to even get to a Slam quarterfinal. "This is honestly more than I could ask for."

Anisimova is the youngest American woman into the final four at Roland Garros since Jennifer Capriati was 14 in 1990.

She has yet to drop a set through five matches over these two weeks in Paris and displayed the same brand of confident, take-it-to-the-opponent strokes against Halep.

After her fourth-round victory, Anisimova referred to her "effortless shots," and they sure looked that way at Court Philippe Chatrier.

Anisimova, the junior runner-up at Roland Garros as a 14-year-old, is still precocious and still seemingly unfazed by the setting or stage.

Against Halep, a former No. 1 and someone who has reached four major finals, Anisimova repeatedly aimed the ball into corners or went for difficult angles -- and repeatedly succeeded. She ended up with a 25-16 edge in winners. Most impressive, perhaps, was this: Halep had won 16 consecutive return games coming into Thursday, but Anisimova saved 6 of 7 break points.

"I'm really happy with my performance," Anisimova said, "because this is one of the best matches I've ever played."

Keep in mind: This was only the teen's 43rd tour-level match of her nascent career. And this is only her fourth Grand Slam tournament.

Barty is older, 23, but missed about two years on tour when she switched sports and played cricket. She's progressing quickly now, though: Her first major quarterfinal came at home in January at the Australian Open, and now she's gone a step further.

Against Keys, a semifinalist in Paris last year and the runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Open, Barty used her backhand slice to great effect, helping create errors on the other side of the net.

Keys finished with a combined count of 52 unforced or forced errors, while Barty had 33.

Barty was asked afterward whether she was shocked that her game, seemingly built for hard courts, has been so good on slower clay.

"Yes," she replied, "very much so. I've been learning every single day."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.