SWIATEK, RYBAKINA REACH SEMIFINALS
Top-ranked breezed past
Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday at Indian Wells.
Swiatek, the defending champion, took a 4-0 lead in the second set and converted her second match point to close it out.
“I’m happy that I played so intense that I could start both sets well,” Swiatek said. “I’m feeling like I’m handling things pretty well and just playing my game.”
Next up for Swiatek is No. 10 seed Elena Rybakina, who outlasted Karolina Muchova 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4. It will be a rematch from the Australian Open in January, when Rybakina won 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
Jannik Sinner beat defending champion and San Diego native Taylor Fritz 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to become the first Italian man to reach the semifinals of the 47year-old tournament.
Sinner, the 11th seed, advanced to the semis at a Masters 1000 for the second time. He will meet topseeded Carlos Alcaraz, who beat No. 8 Felix AugerAliassime 6-4, 6-4. Alcaraz needs to win the title to reclaim the world’s No. 1 ranking.
Fritz said Sinner handled the windy conditions better down the stretch.
“I’d say the two games that I got broken in the third, I just didn’t really feel like I could do much in the points,” Fritz said. “I had to just kind of like hope that he’d get a miss, just because of how strong the wind was in my face.”
Sinner said he stepped in against Fritz’s serve in the middle of the match and tried to take the ball earlier to throw off the American’s rhythm.
“I moved a little bit in, especially on the deuce side,” he said.
“But only on first serve, because I felt like I didn’t have any chance to see the ball toss or where he was serving. So I tried at least, if the ball is there, to catch it as soon as possible to give him less time.”
The University of San Diego women’s basketball team (18-13) scored a 75-57 win over visiting Long Beach State (23-10) in the opening round of the Women’s NIT.
• Opening Big West Conference play at CSU Bakersfield, UC San Diego swept the softball doubleheader by scores of 3-0 and 8-1.
Women’s college basketball
Jayla Everett made a go-ahead shot with 0.3 seconds left and St. John’s edged Purdue (19-11) 66-64 in a First Four game at Columbus, Ohio.
St. John’s (23-8), a No. 11 seed making its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, advances to play sixth-seeded North Carolina in the first round on Saturday.
• Maaliya Owens and Jada Guinn each scored 18 points and Tennessee Tech (23-9) won its eighth straight game with a 79-69 victory over Monmouth in the First Four at Bloomington, Ind.
Soccer
The Women’s World Cup is getting an increase in
prize money of more than 300 percent for this year’s tournament. The $152 million fund for the first 32team tournament — covering prize money, team preparation and payments to players’ clubs — is a huge boost from the 24-team edition in 2019, and 10 times what it was in 2015. Some of the $110 million in pure prize money should be dedicated to paying players, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in Rwanda after being re-elected by acclamation through 2027.
• Manchester United cruised into the quarterfinals of the Europa League after a 1-0 victory at Real Betis in the second leg of their round-of-16 encounter. Marcus Rashford produced a clinical finish in the 56th minute.
Sports and courts
Bengals running back Joe Mixon was armed with a legal weapon when a teenage boy was shot near the player’s home earlier this month but he did not fire the gun or do anything illegal, authorities said as they announced the indictments of Mixon’s sister and her boyfriend. Lamonte
Brewer, whom authorities have identified as the shooter, remained at large, while Shalonda Mixon was apprehended by the Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported, citing U.S. Marshals supervisor Charles Sanso.
Brewer fired several shots and is charged with felonious assault, tampering with evidence and two weapons counts, Prosecutor Melissa Powers said at a news conference.
Shalonda Mixon is charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing justice. Brewer faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all counts, while Shalonda Mixon faces up to four years.
It was not known if either had an attorney to speak for them.
• Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter was given 12 months’ probation and a $1,000 fine after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing related to a crash that killed Bulldogs offensive lineman
and a recruiting staff member.