Tiafoe into semifinals at BNP Paribas Open

Frances Tiafoe defeated 10th-seeded Cameron Norrie,

6-4, 6-4, on Wednesday night to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.

The 14th-seeded Hyattsville native ended the 2021 champion’s eight-match winning streak to make his first semifinal in a Masters 1000 tournament.

“Super happy about today,” Tiafoe said on court. “I’ve been playing really well all week. Let’s keep it going.”

Tiafoe hit 22 winners and had just nine unforced errors. He punctuated the victory, which was briefly interrupted by rain, by serving a love game.

Tiafoe hasn’t dropped a set in four matches during the tournament. Next, he will play No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, who had a 6-3, 7-5 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

On the women’s side, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka won the final seven games of the match in defeating sixth-seeded Coco Gauff, 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Also, No. 7 Maria Sakkari

outlasted 15th-seeded Petra Kvitova, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. . . . Rafael Nadal is aiming to make his comeback from a hip injury at the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters next month, organizers said Wednesday. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has been sidelined with a left hip flexor injury since the Australian Open and pulled out of hard-court tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. The Monte Carlo Masters begins April 8 and tournament director David Massey is optimistic Nadal will play. “Rafa was the first [player] to be registered,” Massey said in a statement. Nadal, 36, has won the event a record 11 times.

COLLEGES

Two-time defending champion Virginia swept both relay titles at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships in Knoxville, Tenn. Virginia led the standings after the first night of competition with 80 points, followed by Texas with 64 and California with 56. Virginia set an NCAA record in the 200-yard relay to become the first repeat champion in the event since California in 2012. Gretchen Walsh, Alex Walsh, Lexi Cuomo and Kate Douglass finished in 1 minute 31:51 seconds. Douglass anchored in 20.34 for the second fastest 50-relay split ever. Aimee Canny, Alex Walsh, Reilly Tiltmann and Ella Nelson won the 800-yard freestyle relay in 6:49.82, setting a Virginia and pool record. . . . Emily Sterling made 15 saves to lead the No. 11 Maryland women’s lacrosse team to a 13-4 victory over Georgetown (4-5) in College Park. Kori Edmondson and Jordyn Lipkin scored three goals apiece for the Terrapins (6-3). . . . Arden Tierney scored her third goal of the game at 4:48 of double overtime to give host Richmond a 16-15 upset of the 10th-ranked Virginia women’s lacrosse team.

Lindsey Frank had four goals and Colleen Quinn and Grace Muldoon three each for the Spiders (6-2), who trailed 7-3 in the second quarter. Ashlyn Mcgovern scored five times for the Cavaliers (6-2), who also got three goals from both Mackenzie Hoeg and Jaime Biskup.

WINTER SPORTS

Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr won a men’s World Cup downhill in Soldeu, Andorra. Kriechmayr finished 0.09 seconds ahead of

Romed Baumann. Also in Soldeu,

Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia edged

Sofia Goggia to win a women’s World Cup downhill.