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Larry Bird steps down as Pacers president
Larry Bird is stepping down as president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers, a stunningly abrupt move even for an NBA legend known for making swift decisions.
Bird made the call on Friday and general manager Kevin Pritchard will be elevated to take his place, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the move, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.
Bird leaves the Pacers ahead of a pivotal summer in which the franchise will have to decide what to do with star forward Paul George. He can become a free agent after next season and there is wide speculation that he would prefer to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pacers will have to decide whether to try to persuade him to stay long term or trade him.
Sharapova wins again, reaches semifinals at Porsche GP
STUTTGART, GERMANY >> Maria Sharapova won again to move into the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals after beating Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-3, 6-4 on Friday.
In her third match following a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova converted five of her six break points.
“I’m really enjoying myself,” she said.
The five-time Grand Slam champion will next face Kristina Mladenovic of France, who overcame Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-3, 6-2.
Last year’s runner up and home favorite, Laura Siegemund, upset second-seeded Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-3 in a match that lasted over three hours. The wild card from Stuttgart next faces the fourth-seeded Simona Halep or Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Mladenovic ousted two-time defending champion Angelique Kerber on Thursday and is one of several players who has criticized Sharapova.
Murray and Nadal advance to Barcelona Open semifinals
BARCELONA, SPAIN >> Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray advanced together again, reaching the Barcelona Open semifinals on Friday in the same manner they have won all week: Nadal cruised and Murray labored.
Defending champion Nadal eased past Hyeon Chung of South Korea 7-6 (1), 6-2.
Murray fought hard to beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Ramos-Vinolas had chances to beat Murray for the second straight time, but the top-ranked British player controlled the decisive points to close out the match in three hours.
The 19th-ranked Ramos-Vinolas eliminated Murray in the third round at the Monte Carlo Masters last week before eventually losing to Nadal in the final.
Murray will play fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria, who defeated lucky loser Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-1, 6-2.