Nadal, Serena move up in Rogers Cup

Topseeded defending champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the men’s Rogers Cup quarterfinals in Montreal, beating Argentina’s Guido Pella 63, 64 on Thursday night.

In the women’s Rogers Cup in Toronto, Serena Williams advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova 75, 64.

Williams, the eighth seed, will face No. 2 Naomi Osaka of Japan, a 76 (4), 64 winner over Polish qualifier Iga Swiatek in the late match.

“I definitely feel like it takes a while to get back into the rhythm, because we’ve had a long season of just clay and then grass, and now we’re on hard courts,” Williams said. “So it definitely feels different, especially for me now. Usually I don’t feel that huge of a difference, but for whatever reason, I do this year.” WNBA: Elena Delle Donne had 22 points and eight rebounds and the host Washington Mystics beat the Indiana Fever 9178. MLS: Valentin Castellanos scored twice in the final 14 minutes and host New York City FC beat 10man Houston Dynamo 32 in a match delayed an hour because of weather.

The LA Galaxy acquired highscoring forward Cristian Pavon on loan from Argentina’s Boca Juniors. Pavon, 23, played for Galaxy coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto with Boca Juniors.

Inter Milan completed the signing of Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United. Lukaku signed a fiveyear deal with Inter, joining his younger brother in the Italian league. Jordan Lukaku plays for Serie A rival Lazio. Italian media reported that Inter paid United around $73 million plus $15 million in bonuses for Lukaku.