Konta beats Wozniacki in Miami Open final
KEY BISCAYNE, FLA. >> Johanna Konta lofted a lob off the baseline for a winner on championship point, waited for instant replay to confirm the call and even then hesitated to celebrate the biggest title of her 11-year career.
“To be honest, I actually couldn’t kind of believe it was over,” she said with a grin.
Seeded 10th, Konta was an unlikely champion, but the Australian-born Briton beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 in Saturday’s final at the Miami Open.
Rafael Nadal and Roger their rivalry where it began Sunday.
Konta, a late bloomer at 25, improved to 19-3 this year and will climb to a career-high No. 7 next week. She was the first British woman to reach a Key Biscayne final, a tournament she was unable to qualify for just two years ago.
“On paper it looks like a quick turnaround,” she said. “But it definitely has been a lot of years and a long time coming.” Federer renew in the men’s final
Figure Skating: Olympic champion Hanyu wins worlds
HELSINKI >> Yuzuru Hanyu pulled off a remarkable comeback to win the world figure skating title on Saturday, a boost to his bid to retain his Olympic title next year.
Hanyu was fifth after the short program but produced a world-record free skate score of 223.30 points, landing four quadruple jumps, for a winning total of 321.59.
Short program leader Javier Fernandez of Spain, skating last, dropped to fourth with a fall and other errors, giving Hanyu his second career world title after victory in 2014.
Hanyu, who was in tears of joy after learning his score, praised the passionate support from Japanese fans.
“After the short program, I was quite depressed. I was so deeply depressed,” he said. “But the fans and the team believed in me.”
The silver went to countryman Shoma Uno with a 319.31-point total on a strong day for figure skating in Japan, which has won six of the 12 world championships men’s medals awarded over the last four seasons.
China’s Jin Boyang was the bronze medalist for the second straight year.
NASCAR: Elliott holds off Sauter for 2nd trucks victory
MARTINSVILLE, VA. >> Chase Elliott had spent lap after lap pursuing race-leader Christopher Bell, trying to find, or create, a way around him. Turned out, he didn’t have to do a thing. Elliott grabbed the lead when Bell wiggled with 17 laps to go and held off teammate Johnny Sauter to win the NASCAR truck race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday.
Elliott, who lost out to Sauter on the 0.526mile oval last October, held off one challenge from the defending series champion and pulled away for his second victory in 12 career starts in the series. Sauter finished second, followed by Bell, rookie Noah Gragson and Ty Dillon.
College Football: Michigan St. holds spring game under cloud
EAST LANSING, MICH. >> Mark Dantonio didn’t put 15 of his football players, three of whom are suspended due to a sexual assault investigation, in uniform for Michigan State’s spring game.
Dantonio chose to provide clarity for only one of those Spartans.
After running back LJ Scott told The Associated Press he was not suspended or injured during a brief interview on the field, Dantonio said Scott was not suited up Saturday because he had offseason surgery.
That left at least some people wondering which of the 14 other players are potentially facing criminal charges.
Dantonio, though, declined to provide any clarity.
“We don’t talk about injuries and obviously we’re not any of the other suspensions,” he said.