Djokovic back into a big final at Italian Open
ROME » This is just what Novak Djokovic needed a week before the French Open.
The top-ranked Serb beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-3 at the Italian Open on Saturday to reach his biggest final of the year.
Having missed a big portion of the season because he wasn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus, Djokovic will attempt to extend his five-match winning streak over Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final.
Tsitsipas reached his first Rome final by rallying past Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Djokovic is seeking his sixth Rome title.
In the women’s semifinals, top-ranked Iga Swiatek routed Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-1 for her 27th straight win and will face another player on a run, Ons Jabeur, as she attempts to defend her Rome title.
Jabeur beat Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 for her 11th consecutive victory after lifting the Madrid Open trophy last week.
Soccer
LIVERPOOL WINS F.A. CUP » Add the FA Cup to the collection.
Jürgen Klopp has now won every major title for Liverpool.
A 6-5 victory over Chelsea on penalties in the final produced Liverpool’s first FA Cup triumph since 2006 and kept it in contention for, potentially if unlikely, a quadruple of trophies.
Just like in the League Cup final in February, the FA Cup showpiece ended 0-0 through 120 minutes before Liverpool prevailed again. This time, the Reds were helped by Chelsea midfielder Mason Mason’s penalty being saved before
Konstantinos Tsimikas clinched the shootout win with his first-ever goal for the club.
Motor sports HERTA WINS INDYCAR G.P. »
Colton Herta stopped an early slide, overcame two late pit stops and eventually pulled away from Simon Pagenaud to win the wild, wacky and wet IndyCar Grand Prix.
Herta beat the threetime race winner by 3.0983 seconds amid rooster tails coming from the saturated road course. The 22-yearold California driver won for the first time this season and seventh time overall.
Rain and the threat of rain forced race strategists to constantly change their plans. Nobody made better calls than Herta, who also gave Honda its first victory of the season.
BELL EARNS CUP POLE » Christopher Bell qualified on the pole for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, topping the time set by Corning’s Tyler Reddick earlier in the session and grabbing his third pole of the NASCAR Cup Series season for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Bell turned a lap of 179.575 mph in the first showcase of the Next Gen car at the mile-and-a-half oval west of downtown Kansas City. That was enough to beat Reddick, who went 178.855 mph for Richard Childress Racing, and add to the poles that Bell won at Las Vegas and Talladega.
Now the trick is to do something with it. Bell finished 10th in the desert and 22nd a few weeks ago in Alabama.
Golf
MUNOZ KEEPS BYRON NELSON LEAD » Sebastián Muñoz will be the “other” local guy in the final pairing of the final round of the Byron Nelson.
It’s cool by the Colombian who now calls the Dallas area home and has at least shared the lead after all three rounds.
Muñoz shot a 6-under 66 and was 21 under, a stroke ahead of hometown favorite Jordan Spieth, who is still seeking a breakthrough at the event in which he contended in the final round as a 16-year-old high schooler in 2010. Spieth shot a 64.
Joaquin Niemann will be the third player in the final group Sunday, alone in third another shot back after a 65. James Hahn almost matched Muñoz’s opening-round 60 at TPC Craig Ranch, shooting 61 to jump 34 spots to a tie for fourth with Justin Thomas (64).
STRICKER’S LEAD AT THREE » Steve Stricker took a threestroke lead over Steven Alker into the final round of the Regions Tradition, birdieing the final hole for a 6-under 66.
Playing his third straight tournament after a sixmonth hiatus for health reasons, Stricker was at 17-under 199 as he seeks his second win in the past three tries in the PGA Tour Champions major at Greystone Golf & Country Club. He had three straight birdies from holes 13-15 after his lone bogey and polished off the round with a fourth.
Stricker is seeking his fourth major championship on the 50-and-over circuit.
NFL
EX-SEATTLE SAFETY THOMAS ARRESTED » Former Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas has been arrested in Texas more than two weeks after a warrant was issued over an alleged violation of a protective order.
Beaumont, Texas, television station KBMT reported Thomas was arrested Friday in Orange, where he played high school football. The station reported the three-time All-Pro was recognized at a restaurant.
The arrest warrant was issued last month in Austin, Texas, where Thomas played in college for the Texas Longhorns. Police said Thomas violated the court order by sending threatening messages to a woman about her and her children, the Austin American-Statesman reported.