Nadal- Djokovic rivalry revs up; Sharapova gains
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will renew their rivalry in the Italian Open semifinals — and three- time Rome champion Maria Sharapova also reached the last four Friday.
Nadal, who holds a record seven titles at the Foro Italico, overcame a poor first set and a partisan crowd to beat Italian Fabio Fognini 4- 6, 6- 1, 6- 2. Fourtime Rome winner Djokovic defeated Kei Nishikori 2- 6, 6- 1, 6- 3.
Nadal and Djokovic have played each other 50 times but their most recent meeting was last May, when Nadal won in the Madrid Open semifinals. Djokovic leads Nadal 26- 24 overall, but Nadal holds a 15- 7 advantage on clay.
Nadal can replace Roger Federer at No. 1 if he lifts the Rome trophy for the first time since 2013.
Sharapova required more than three hours to eliminate last year’s French Open winner, Jelena Ostapenko, 6- 7 ( 6), 6- 4, 7- 5; and defending champion Elina Svitolina defeated Angelique Kerber 6- 4, 6- 4 for her sixth straight victory over the former No. 1 player.
Scandals: USA Gymnastics fired senior vice president Rhonda Faehn, who has come under fire recently from victims of former national team doctor Larry Nassar — who is serving decades in prison for abusing athletes.
USA Gymnastics has undergone a significant overhaul in the aftermath of Nassar’s behavior. Kerry Perry took over as president in December, replacing Steve Penny, and the entire board of directors was removed at the request of the United States Olympic Committee.
⏩ Louisville has settled for $ 4.5 million with former athletic director Tom Jurich, who was fired in the wake of a federal corruption investigation of college basketball. Jurich disputed his Oct. 18 firing for cause after nearly 20 years as AD and had considered suing the school.
Motor sports: Matt Kenseth celebrated his return to racing by grabbing the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR All- Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N. C. Kenseth agreed to return to race on a limited schedule this year for his original team after being dumped by Joe Gibbs Racing last year. ... Johnny Sauter raced to his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season in Concord.
WNBA: Diana Taurasi scored 20 of her 26 points in the first half and became the first WNBA player with 1,000 career three- pointers, helping the host Phoenix Mercury beat the Dallas Wings 86- 78 in the league’s opener.
College softball: Cal couldn’t capitalize on a golden opportunity in the bottom of the seventh and Northwestern scored the winning run in the top of the eighth to beat the Bears 3- 2 in an NCAA regionals game in Athens, Ga.
The Bears ( 34- 20) had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh before a force out at the plate and a strikeout ended the rally. Morgan Nelson led off the eighth with a double for Northwestern ( 37- 17) and scored three batters later on Kenna Wilkey’s single.
Cal drops into the elimination bracket and will play Harvard on Saturday, with the loser’s season ending.
College baseball: Beau Branton went 4- for- 4 and knocked in three runs and Tristan Beck scattered five hits over six innings as No. 3 Stanford beat visiting Washington State 10- 1. Nico Hoerner and Christian Molfetta each drove in a pair for the Cardinal ( 41- 8, 19- 6 Pac- 12).