Garin takes out Ruud in Indian Wells stunner
Qualifier Cristian Garin of Chile shocked third-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday in Indian Wells, Calif., for his first win over a top-five player in nearly two years.
Garin, ranked No. 97, had 39 winners. Ruud, ranked No. 4, managed just 15 winners against 29 unforced errors.
The 26-year-old Garin improved to 3-1 lifetime against Ruud, a two-time Grand Slam finalist.
Cameron Norrie, the 2021 Indian Wells champion, rallied from a set and 3-0 down to defeat world No. 103 Taro Daniel, 6-7 (7-5), 7-5, 6-2. The 10th-seeded Norrie improved to 11-3 lifetime at Indian Wells.
Germany’s Alexander Zverev beat Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5.
In the women’s draw, thirdseeded Jessica Pegula rallied from a set down for the second consecutive match to beat 26thseeded Anastasia Potapova, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Also, seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece beat No. 27 Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
PRO FOOTBALL
D’eriq King ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score to help the XFL’S D.C. Defenders remain unbeaten with a 32-18 victory over the Vegas Vipers on Sunday night at Audi Field.
Jordan Ta’amu completed 14 of 19 passes for 177 yards and ran for 89 yards on nine carries for the Defenders (4-0). Abram Smith carried 22 times for 58 yards.
Luis Perez was 23 for 32 for 283 yards and two touchdowns — both to Cinque Sweeting — along with one interception for the Vipers, who fell to 0-4.
CYCLING
An impressive run by Tadej Pogacar clinched the final stage with a solo escape to win the week-long Paris-nice race. David Gaudu finished second, 53 seconds behind Pogacar, while Jonas Vingegaard was third, 1 minute 39 seconds back.
Pogacar attacked during the climb of Col d’èze with 18 kilometers (about 11.2 miles) to go, finishing the eighth stage 33 seconds ahead of a small group made up of Vingegaard, Gaudu, Simon Yates and Matteo Jorgenson.
The Slovenian rider completed the 118-kilometer trek around Nice in 2 hours 51 minutes 2 seconds.
Pogacar also beat Vingegaard in October to win the Tour of Lombardy.
The duel between Pogacar and Vingegaard has become one of the biggest rivalries in cycling. Vingegaard finished second behind Pogacar at the 2021 Tour de France. But the Danish rider managed to beat Pogacar in the 2022 Tour de France for his first major title.
Vingegaard still has time to hit peak form. The Tour de France starts July 1.
Pogacar is the leader in the UCI men’s road racing world rankings. Last month in Spain, Pogacar won the Tour of Andalucia and Vingegaard won the O Gran Camiño.
Pogacar took the yellow jersey Wednesday by winning the fourth stage. He dumped Vingegaard in the climb of La Loge des Gardes. Only Gaudu could stay on Pogacar’s wheel.
The two-time Tour de France winner extended his overall lead by taking the seventh stage Saturday, beating Gaudu and Vingegaard in a small sprint atop Col de la Couillole. . . . .
Primoz Roglic made a winning return as he triumphed at the week-long Tirreno-adriatico race for a fourth Slovenian victory in five editions of “The Race of the Two Seas.”
The race, which started and finished in San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, was Roglic’s first of the season after the Jumbo-visma rider underwent shoulder surgery last year.
After winning the previous three stages to build a significant advantage, Roglic protected his lead and finished safely in the peloton on Sunday’s seventh leg to end the race 18 seconds ahead of João Almeida of Portugal and 23 seconds ahead of British cyclist Tao Geoghegan Hart.
Roglic won the Tirreno in 2019. Fellow Slovenian Pogacar had won the past two editions.
Belgian Jasper Philipsen won a bunch sprint to take Sunday’s stage. The Alpecin-deceuninck rider edged Dylan Groenewegen and Alberto Dainese.
There was an early breakaway in the 154-kilometer (96-mile) route, but the eight riders were caught with just over three kilometers remaining.
WINTER SPORTS
Olympic champion Marco Odermatt won a men’s World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, to secure his second straight season title in the discipline.
Racing in sunny and warm conditions, the Swiss skier built on his first-run lead as he beat his only rival for the GS title before the race, Henrik Kristoffersen, by 0.32 seconds.
Odermatt extended his lead over the Norwegian to 160 points in the GS standings, locking up the title with only 100 points still at stake at the season-ending race next Saturday.
Alexis Pinturault of France was 0.70 seconds behind in third.
Odermatt has won six of the nine giant slaloms he started this season. He earlier successfully defended his overall title this season while also winning the super- G globe and world titles in GS and downhill.
The World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra, start with a downhill Wednesday.