San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Alcaraz extends roll by beating Djokovic
Rafael Nadal one day. Novak Djokovic the other.
The list of victims of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps growing.
After defeating his idol Nadal in the quarterfinals on Friday, the 19-year-old Alcaraz rallied to beat top-ranked Djokovic 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) after more than 31⁄2 hours on Saturday to reach the Madrid Open final.
“It was one of those matches to enjoy,” Alcaraz said. “Despite the tension, despite being the semifinals of a Masters 1000, being 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker … I’ve enjoyed it. Until the last point I was being able to smile.”
A win Sunday will give Alcaraz his fourth title this season, the most of any player.
He will face defending champion Alexander Zverev or Stefanos Tsitsipas, who met in the late semifinal Saturday. In the women’s final of the Madrid Open, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia won her second career title by defeating Jessica Pegula of the United States 7-5, 0-6, 6-3. prospective new ownership watched Romelu Lukaku score his first EPL goals in 2022 before the team collapsed to a 2-2 tie against Wolverhampton . ... Brentford scored two early goals in a 3-0 victory over Southampton . ... Watford became the second team to be relegated from the EPL after losing at Crystal Palace 1-0. Last-place Norwich’s relegation was sealed last weekend . ... Burnley’s relegation woes deepened after it lost to Aston Villa 3-1.
Baseball: Clayton Kershaw dominated over seven innings and the Dodgers beat the Cubs 7-0 in the opener of a doubleheader in Chicago. Freddie Freeman doubled three times and scored twice, helping the NL West leaders win for the 16th time in 21 games . ... The Cincinnati Reds posted their highest run total of the season and snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 9-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a home doubleheader. ... Raimel Tapia and George Springer each drove in three runs as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the host Cleveland Guardians 8-3 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Golf: Thorbjorn Olesen finished eagle-birdie to shoot 3-under-par 69 and take a threestroke lead into the final round of the British Masters in Sutton Coldfield, England. Olesen was 11-under overall, with thirdround leader Hurly Long (73) and Marcus Armitage (70) the nearest challengers on 8-under.
NHL: Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves, Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal and assisted on another and the host Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 6-1 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round Stanley Cup series.
Motor sports: Justin Allgaier put JR Motorsports in victory lane for the third consecutive week in the Xfinity Series by winning at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Allgaier ended a 34race winless streak when he passed AJ Allmendinger to start a two-lap sprint following a caution and cruised the final 2.7 miles. Joey Logano reached 170.720 mph and turned a fast lap of 28.805 seconds to clinch the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Darlington, edging Kyle Larson. A slip by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen during qualifying opened the door for Ferrari to lock up the first row for Sunday’s Formula One Miami Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc turned a 1:28.796 lap to take the pole, with Carlos Sainz 0.19 seconds behind.