Norrie turns tables on Alcaraz with Rio title

Cameron Norrie waited a week for his revenge against top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, rallying from a set and 3-0 down to beat the Spanish teenager in the Rio Open final on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro for his first title of the year.

Second-seeded Norrie won 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 to win the fifth title of his career after defeats in the final to Richard Gasquet in Auckland in January and to Alcaraz in the Argentina Open championship match last weekend.

Alcaraz’s failure to retain his title at the clay-court tournament in Rio de Janeiro also stopped him from tying with Novak Djokovic in points at the top of the rankings. Djokovic would still have been No. 1 due to other results.

Alcaraz and Norrie went head to head in a tightly fought first set, which was eventually decided by Alcaraz’s drop shots breaking Norrie’s serve.

Alcaraz showed more confidence with his powerful forehand shots at the start of the second set, and opened a 3-0 advantage. But the British player recovered in the middle of the set as Alcaraz felt pains in his right leg, which hindered his movement and serve. The Spaniard later said the problem was a recurrence of the injury that sidelined him for almost four months until earlier in February.

“I didn’t see (Alcaraz was injured). I broke him to make 4-3 in the second set, then he called the trainer. But he didn’t take any injury time out at all in the match,” Norrie said when asked whether he had sought to exploit the Spaniard’s physical difficulties. “It is special when you do it against a top player like Alcaraz. It took a lot of heart.”

Norrie led most of the deciding set but had to work hard against a recovering Alcaraz. Norrie’s strong returns helped him to prevail in 2 hours, 41 minutes, clinching the match with an ace.

BOXING Paul suffers first loss of professional career

Youtube star Jake Paul took the first defeat of his professional boxing career, losing a split decision to Tommy Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Paul (6-1) knocked down Fury with a short left hand early in the final round of their cruiserweight bout, but the younger half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury controlled long stretches of the eight-round meeting at Diriyah Arena.

Two judges scored the bout 76-73 for Fury (9-0, 4 KOS), while the third favored Paul, 75-74.

“I’ve already won every single way in life,” Paul said. “I made it farther than I ever thought I would, and beyond. This is a humbling experience. I’ll take it on the chin and come back.”

Fury is the first actual professional boxer fought by Paul, who built his lucrative second career by taking on mixed martial artists and a fellow Youtuber in boxing bouts that generated huge social media attention despite featuring more enthusiasm than skill.

Fury’s unbeaten record entering this bout was built against a series of wildly overmatched opponents with a combined record of 24-176-5.

COLLEGE GYMNASTICS UCLA women beat Arizona in Tucson

No. 5 UCLA posted its second consecutive 197.9 score, downing host No. 27 Arizona 197.900-195.325.

Sophomore Jordan Chiles recorded a career-high 39.850 in the all-around, earning two 9.975s on vault and bars and two 9.950s on beam and floor to win all four events.

Chiles’ 39.850 all-around score is the fourth-highest in school history and the highest all-around total since Kyla Ross also scored 39.850 against Arizona on Feb. 17, 2019.

The Bruins opened the meet with a 49.325 on uneven bars. Ana Padurariu hit for a career-high-tying 9.900. Chiles hit her fourth 9.975 of the season.

UCLA tied its season high on vault with a score of 49.400. Emily Lee led off with a career-high 9.875. Campbell tied her season best with a 9.925 on a stuck Yurchenko full, and Chiles earned a career-high 9.975 on her Yurchenko double full.

Up by 1.5 points at the halfway mark, UCLA scored 49.575 on floor exercise. Lee tied her career high with a 9.900. Emma Malabuyo earned a 10 from one judge and a final score of 9.925. Chiles hit for a 9.950, followed by 9.900s from Campbell and Margzetta Frazier.

The Bruins finished strong on beam, totaling 49.600. Padurariu totaled a career-best 9.950 and Chiles had a career-high-tying 9.950. Selena Harris contributed a 9.900, and Malabuyo finished with a 9.925.

SKIING Olsen captures his first World Cup title

Norwegian ski racer Alexander Steen Olsen earned his first World Cup win after AJ Ginnis of Greece was disqualified for missing a gate in a slalom event held on a snowy day at the Palisades Tahoe resort in Olympic Valley, Calif.

With the visibility deteriorating as the snow picked up intensity, Olsen turned in a clean pass through the tricky course set to finish in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 47.47 seconds. Fellow Norwegian racer Timon Haugan was 0.05 seconds behind in second. There was a tie for third between Bulgaria’s Albert Popov, who made a charge from well back in the pack, and firstrun leader Clement Noel of France.

The podium took several minutes to sort out as officials reviewed the run of Ginnis, who came down in first place but appeared to straddle a gate.

• Sofia Goggia raced toward another World Cup downhill title with a fifth win in her dominating season.

Goggia raced through lightly falling snow in Cransmontana, Switzerland and was fastest on the lower section of the Mont Lachaux course to finish 0.15 seconds ahead of Federica Brignone, her Italy teammate who matched a career-best result in downhill.

Goggia extended her lead in the season-long standings to 179 over Ilka Štuhec.

SOCCER Manchester United wins League Cup

Manchester United’s sixyear wait for a trophy is over after beating Newcastle 2-0 to win the League Cup.

Casemiro headed United in front in the 33rd minute of the final at Wembley Stadium and Sven Botman’s own-goal made it 2-0 in the 39th.

It is United’s first trophy since winning a League Cup and Europa League double in 2017.

For Newcastle, the wait for a first major domestic trophy since winning the FA Cup in 1955 goes on.