Teen reaches Miami final
Jannik Sinner’s groundstrokes travel more than 80 mph, impressive even by pro tennis standards, and the 19year-old Italian has joined some fast company at the Miami Open.
Sinner became the fourth teenager to reach the Miami men’s final. The others: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi.
The baseline basher, playing in only his third toplevel ATP event, rallied to beat Spanish counterpuncher Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinal 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Sinner will next face No. 26-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 final by beating No. 4 Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-4.
On the women’s side, topranked Ash Barty will play for her second consecutive Miami title Saturday against No. 8 Bianca Andreescu, who edged No. 23 Maria Sakkari in a threesetter that ended at 1:35 a.m. EDT Friday.
UCLA gymnastics overcame a shaky start to flirt with a season high and advance to the Morgantown Regional final by finishing second in a regional semifinal. The Bruins scored a 197.05 to trail No. 4 Michigan’s 197.65. Host West Virginia (195.65) and Kent State (194.3) rounded out the field for the second semifinal.
Junior Norah Flatley, who missed the entire regular season with an ankle injury, helped the No. 13 Bruins avoid having to count falls on their first two rotations by scoring 9.875s on bars and beam. The former U.S. national team member made her season debut on beam and delivered UCLA’s highest score on the event. UCLA and Michigan will face No. 5 California and Ohio State, respectively, in Saturday’s regional final, where the top two teams will continue to NCAA championships. — Thuc Nhi Nguyen
New Orleans Pelicans guard Josh Hart is out indefinitely after tearing a ligament in his right thumb. The Pelicans reportedly will sign Isaiah Thomas to a 10-day contract . ... Rick Carlisle did not coach Dallas on Friday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Houston police are investigating a complaint filed against Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who’s been accused of sexual assault and harassment in lawsuits filed by 21 women.
Veteran linebacker Damien Wilson signed with Jacksonville, giving the Jaguars an experienced option as they transition to a 3-4 defense . ... Defensive tackle John Jenkins signed for a second stint with Miami.
Tyrique McGhee , a defensive back on the Rams practice squad, was suspended by the NFL without pay for the first five games next season for violating the policy on performance-enhancing substances. — Gary Klein
Clara Lamore Walker, who swam for the U.S. at the 1948 Olympics, won three national championships, and later in life set hundreds of national and world records in several masters age groups, has died at age 94.