1.   Forest overcame a bomb scare, dreadful conditions and a determined Tottenham to book their third League Cup final in four seasons.

2.   Ever since Bruguera beat him in his third French final, he has been plagued by ennui, his tennis in a state of decline.

3.   Kobe Bryant glided in, his wingspan and wondrous ability delivering him to his third NBA finals in three years.

4.   Nobody believed she would win when the third final came around.

5.   Sampras is attempting to mount a comeback and reach his third final of the year.

6.   Then Davenport, making her third major final, served it out.

7.   They are in their third Western final in five years, and in neither of their previous two appearances did they win a road game or a series.

8.   This was the third consecutive final between Syracuse and Princeton, and Princeton has lost two.

9.   Pete Sampras survived a barrage of aces from Goran Ivanisevic on Friday and moved into his third straight Wimbledon final with a five-set victory.

10.   Chang was playing in this third Grand Slam final.