Dimitrov upsets top-seeded Medvedev at Indian Wells
Grigor Dimitrov outlasted topseeded Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, extending the parade of upsets that has knocked out several top players.
Medvedev’s loss left the combined ATP and WTA tournament without its top two men’s and women’s seeds. Karolina Pliskova lost in the third round and No. 2 Iga Swiatek went out in the fourth round.
Dimitrov rallied from a set and double-break down to upset Medvedev, the U.S. Open champion who was chasing his fifth title of the year. Dimitrov, seeded 23rd, earned his first win over a top-2 player since 2016, when he beat Andy Murray in Miami.
No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 3 Alexander Zverev played night matches in the Southern California desert.
Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells for the first time, where he’ll meet No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz, who beat 19th-seeded Asian Karatsev 6-1, 6-3.
“I always wanted to do well out here,” Dimitrov said. “I felt like I had so many chances throughout the years. I’ve lost very close matches, matches from match points and everything. I was very determined.”
Medvedev won the U.S. Open last month and was chasing his fifth title of the year. He took control from the start, connecting on 80% of his first serves in the opening set. The Russian built a 4-1 lead in the second set before Dimitrov began turning the match around in front of a sparse crowd.
“He definitely flipped the switch,” Medvedev said. “If he plays like this like he did starting from 4-1, he’s going to win the tournament.”
Golf
AUSTRALIAN OPEN CALLED OFF >> The men’s Australian Open golf tournament and Australian Women’s Open scheduled for next year have been canceled because of COVID-19-related travel and quarantine restrictions.
“The decision has not been made lightly but we believe it to be the right outcome under the current circumstances,” Golf Australia chief executive James Sutherland said in a statement.
The men’s tournament was originally scheduled for Nov. 25-28 at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney but had already been re-scheduled for a date in early 2022. It was also not held in 2020 due to the pandemic. Australian Matt Jones was the last winner in 2019 when it was also played at The Australian.
The Women’s Australian Open, which was set be on the 2022 LPGA Tour, was scheduled for February at Kooyonga Golf Club in Adelaide, although an actual date had not been determined. Inbee Park won the 2020 tournament at Royal Adelaide and the 2021 version was canceled.
MLS
LEAGUE EYEING EXPANSION >> Major League Soccer still has designs on rounding up to an even 30 clubs.
The league’s latest expansion team will be “appointed or announced sometime in the next 12 months,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said this week.
Sacramento originally was set to become the league’s 30th franchise, but that project’s primary investor withdrew in February, citing issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MLS will grow one team at a time for the next few seasons. Austin FC made its debut in 2021 as the league’s 27th franchise. Charlotte FC will have its inaugural season in 2022, and St. Louis City SC will begin play in 2023 to bring the league to 29 clubs.
Sportico reported in August that Las Vegas became the front-runner for the latest MLS expansion. Separate groups were competing for a bid to bring a team to Las Vegas, one led by Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and another that included Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Wes Edens.
Garber made his remarks on the expansion timeline Monday at the CAA World Congress of Sports.
Olympics/NCAA
POSSIBLE PARTNERSHIPS IN THE WORKS >> Olympic sports organizations will look into co-hosting championship events with the NCAA as a way of preventing the U.S. goldmedal pipeline from withering under financial pressure.
The hosting partnerships was one of seven recommendations the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee released after several months of meetings between Olympic officials and college athletic directors across the country.
More than 75% of the 613 U.S. athletes who went to the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year were products of an NCAA program. According to one recent estimate, U.S. universities combine to spend $5 billion a year on Olympic sports programs.
Both colleges and the U.S. Olympic team have endured financial strains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and each are looking to one another for help in sustaining their programs in sports such as gymnastics, swimming, wrestling and volleyball.