Medvedev puts a halt to Djokovic's winning streak
Daniil Medvedev ended Novak Djokovic's 20-match winning streak by beating the world's top-ranked player 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final at the Dubai Championships on Friday.
The third-seeded Medvedev will face defending champion Andrey Rublev in an all-Russian final that could have political overtones after Rublev reiterated his call for peace.
Medvedev picked up trophies in Rotterdam and Doha before coming to Dubai and beating Djokovic to extend his winning streak to 13 matches.
The former No. 1 player broke Djokovic twice in the first set and again to open the second, eventually closing it out on his first match point.
Medvedev hadn't beaten Djokovic since the 2021 U.S. Open final for his first — and only — major title. That win denied Djokovic the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men's singles since 1969. Djokovic then won their next four meetings.
Djokovic was competing in his first event since winning the Australian Open for his record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam singles title. He hadn't lost since November when he dropped the Paris Masters final to Holger Rune.
Sixth-ranked Rublev advanced by beating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (9) in the other semifinal.
Rublev has beaten Medvedev the last two times they squared off including at the ATP Finals in November.
That match is better remembered for Rublev's appeal for peace. He wrote “Peace, Peace, Peace, All we need,” on a TV camera lens. He made a similar appeal shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.
On Friday, Rublev renewed that message.
“It's crazy that so many just normal citizens are suffering, dying,” he told reporters. “The only thing I hope that soon there is going to be peace in every country. It doesn't matter where.”
NASCAR star Chase Elliott had successful surgery for an unspecified injury to his left leg Friday night, hours after a snowboarding accident in Colorado. He will miss this weekend's NASCAR race at Las Vegas.
Team owner Rick Hendrick told The Associated Press that Elliott was “just out of surgery” and “it went well.” Hendrick gave no additional details about Elliott's condition or the accident.
Josh Berry will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet on Sunday in place of Elliott.
The 27-year-old Elliott, who won the Cup title in 2020, has 18 career Cup victories and has advanced into the championship finale the last three years.
Elliott is a second-generation driver and the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.
NCAA proposes rules to shorten games
The NCAA Football Rules Committee approved a proposal to keep the clock running when a team makes a first down except in the last two minutes of a half. Since 1968, the clock has stopped on a first down until the referee gives the ready-for-play signal.
The committee forwarded two other proposals to keep games moving. One would have penalties that are accepted at the end of the first and third quarters enforced at the start of the following quarter rather than having an untimed down. The other would take away the option for a coach to call back-toback timeouts during the same dead ball period.
The committee gave no serious consideration to a proposal to keep the clock running after an incomplete pass.
The proposed changes would go into effect in the 2023 season if approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on April 20.
Steve Shaw, NCAA secretary-rules editor and national coordinator of officials, said the rules committee took a conservative approach to begin the process of shortening games.
With the College Football Playoff expanding from four to 12 teams in 2024-25, and possibly more in the future, conference commissioners had asked the committee to look for ways to cut down on the number of plays in games in an attempt to mitigate potential injury exposures.
Shaw said the new clock rule on first downs would take about eight plays out of the game, which would be about 96 fewer exposures over a regular season and more for teams that play in bowls and the playoff.
The NFL keeps the clock running on first downs the entire game, and Shaw said keeping the old rule in place the last two minutes of halves represents a “beautiful difference” between the pro and college games.
Ex-hoops star Appling sentenced in killing
Former Michigan State University basketball star Keith Damon Appling was sentenced in the death of a Detroit man who prosecutors say Appling shot after an argument over a gun.
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge ordered Appling, 31, to serve 18 to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder and two years for a firearms charge, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
Appling pleaded guilty last month.
Clyde Edmonds, 66, was slain May 22, 2021. Edmonds' wife and Appling's mother are first cousins, authorities said.
Appling was a prep star at Detroit Pershing and played guard at Michigan State from 2010 to 2014. He also played pro basketball overseas and had two brief contracts with the NBA's Orlando Magic.
NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK-VICTORIA'S VOICE FOUNDATION 200
At Las Vegas Motor Speedway Lap length:
(Start position in parentheses)
1.5 miles
1. (1) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 134 laps, 0 points. 2. (7) Zane Smith, Ford, 134, 45.
3. (9) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 134, 47. 4. (15) Corey Heim, Toyota, 134, 33. 5. (4) Ty Majeski, Ford, 134, 42. 6. (12) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 134, 31. 7. (8) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 134, 43. 8. (3) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, 134, 36. 9. (17) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 134, 41. 10. (14) Jake Garcia, Chevrolet, 134, 27.
11. (11) Matt Crafton, Ford, 134, 36. 12. (19) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 133,
41. 13. (16) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 133, 27.
14. (22) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 133, 23.
15. (18) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 133, 22.
16. (25) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 133, 21.
17. (10) Kaz Grala, Toyota, 133, 0. 18. (27) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 133, 19. 19. (20) Daniel Dye, Chevrolet, 132, 18. 20. (21) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, 132, 17.
21. (30) Max Gutierrez, Ford, 131, 16.
22. (26) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 131, 15. 23. (31) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 130, 14.
24. (23) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 130,
0. 25. (29) Kaden Honeycutt, Ford, 130,
12. 26. (35) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 129,
11. 27. (32) Mason Massey, Ford, 129,
10. 28. (28) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 126,
9. 29. (24) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 122,
18. 30. (2) Nicholas Sanchez, Chevrolet, accident, 103, 7.
31. (13) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, vibration, 98, 0. 32. (5) Hailie Deegan, Ford, accident, 59, 5. 33. (34) Brennan Poole, Toyota, reargear, 20, 0. 34. (6) Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, accident, 16, 3.
35. (33) Josh Reaume, Ford, transmission, 4, 2.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONSCOLOGUARD CLASSIC
At Catalina Course Tucson, Ariz. Purse:
Yardage:
First round
$2.2 million
6,981;
Par:
72
Brett Quigley ............................ 34-31—65 -7 Brian Cooper ............................ 34-32—66 -6 John Huston ............................. 34-32—66 -6 Kirk Triplett .............................. 34-32—66 -6 Alex Cejka ................................. 33-34—67 -5 Marco Dawson ......................... 36-32—68 -4 Ken Duke ................................... 35-33—68 -4 Jerry Kelly ................................. 33-35—68 -4 David Toms ............................... 35-33—68 -4 Mike Weir ................................. 32-36—68 -4 Michael Allen ........................... 33-36—69 -3 Woody Austin .......................... 35-34—69 -3 Ernie Els .................................... 35-34—69 -3 Bob Estes .................................. 36-33—69 -3 Richard Green .......................... 35-34—69 -3 Mark Hensby ............................ 34-35—69 -3 Ken Tanigawa ........................... 32-37—69 -3 Willie Wood .............................. 35-34—69 -3
WCC TOURNAMENT At Orleans Arena, Las Vegas Friday's second round
BYU 82, Portland 71
Pacific vs. San Francisco, late
WOMEN
TOP 25
No. 1 South Carolina 93, Arkansas 66 No. 2 Indiana 94, Michigan St. 85
No. 4 LSU 83, Georgia 66
No. 5 Maryland vs. Illinois, late
No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 19 UCLA, late
No. 7 Iowa 69, Purdue 58
No. 8 Virginia Tech 68, Miami 42
No. 10 Notre Dame 66, NC State 60
No. 13 Duke 44, No. 18 North Carolina 40 No. 14 Ohio St. 81, No. 17 Michigan 79 No. 20 Colorado 58, Washington St. 55
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT
At Michelob ULTRA Arena, Las Vegas Thursday's quarterfinals
No. 19 UCLA 73, No. 21 Arizona 59 No. 6 Stanford 76, Oregon 65 Washington St. 66, No. 3 Utah 58 No. 20 Colorado 62, Oregon St. 54