beats

Antonelli’s first lap in the final session was 0.298secs quicker than Russell’s. He was on course to improve on his final run but locked up into the hairpin and lost time.

The 19-year-old Italian said: “Super happy with the session. It was a good one, a clean one. And I felt very good in the car and every run I was just improving and improving.

“Shame about the last lap after a lock-up in Turn 11 but it was a good one before that.”

Antonelli became the youngest driver to take pole position in history in China and is emerging as a serious threat to Russell in the championship – they start the race separated by four points, less than the margin between first and second places in a grand prix.

Russell, who was complaining of a lack of rear grip throughout qualifying, was quicker than Antonelli in the difficult first sector of the lap but lost out over the rest.

“Really strange session,” the Briton said. “We were both very fast all weekend. We made some adjustments after final practice and in this qualifying we were nowhere so we have to try and understand.”

Piastri, meanwhile, was pleased with the obvious progress McLaren have made this weekend, during which they have for the first time been in the mix with Ferrari as the closest challengers to Mercedes.

“We have looked good all weekend,” said the Australian, who is yet to start a grand prix this season after a crash on the reconnaissance lap in Australia and a battery failure in China before the start.

“We don’t have the pace to match Mercedes still but we are getting closer.”

Zheng beat American 15th seed Madison Keys to claim her first win over a top-20 player since having elbow surgery in July.

Sabelenka has won seven of her eight meetings with Olympic champion Zheng.

Third seed Elena Rybakina cruised into the last 16 with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

Kazakhstan’s Rybakina will play Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, who knocked out another seeded player courtesy of a 6-2 6-2 win over 18th seed Iva Jovic.

Gibson, who reached the Indian Wells quarter-finals, beat former world number one Naomi Osaka in the second round in Miami.

Fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula, runner-up to Sabalenka last year, needed only an hour and six minutes to beat Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-2.

Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, runner-up in Miami in 2018, fought back to claim a 5-7 6-2 7-5 win over seventh seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Ostapenko will next play American world number 45 Hailey Baptiste, who beat Ukrainian ninth seed Elina Svitolina 6-3 7-5.

ANAHEIM — Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland punctuated his case to make the opening day roster with a home run in the team’s last Cactus League game Saturday.

Then on Sunday, before the first game of the Freeway Series with the Angels, the Dodgers announced the results of the spring training position battle between Freeland and Hyeseong Kim: the team optioned Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

“It’s one of those things that you could argue both sides of either decision, as far as Alex or Hyeseong,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “And so I just don’t think it’s clear cut. We still haven’t seen Hyeseong a bunch. Alex, I think he’s taken great at-bats, the numbers, the surface line certainly isn’t there, but it’s still spring training. There’s just deeper conversations that are going to be had.”

Kim started off the spring swinging a hot bat. But he went 1-for-12 in the World Baseball Classic. Freeland finished Cactus League play with a .116 batting average.

Utility player Tommy Edman’s offseason ankle surgery left open the roster spot. He’s progressing but set to start the season on the injured list.

The Dodgers also reassigned utility man Nick Senzel, outfielder Jack Suwinski and catcher Seby Zavala to minor-league camp.

Murphy came into the contest after missing out on a title fight against champion Alexander Volkanovski in January, with Diego Lopes being given the opportunity instead.

Murphy did not get the rousing reception from the home fans like Aspinall or Pimblett have in the past as he made a business-like walkout, but he was cheered as he stepped into the octagon.

Evloev was booed heavily but embraced his reception as he smiled and made a heart-shaped gesture with his fingers towards the crowd.

Encouraged by chants of “Oh Miracle Murphy”, some of the Mancunian’s best work was done with his back to the cage, as he landed a one-two uppercut combination and tried to keep Evloev at bay with leg kicks.

Evloev was predicted to grapple with Murphy but it was not until the third round, with the Briton gaining the upper hand in the striking, that he attempted his first takedown.

Murphy got to his feet quickly and drew roars from the crowd with a counter right hook, but Evloev would end the round on top as a flurry of strikes opened a cut above the Mancunian’s left eye.

The contest was delayed in the fourth round as Murphy took time to recover from an accidental groin strike in a move for which the Russian was docked a point.

But after telling his corner he had hurt his hip, Murphy struggled to defend takedowns like he had before and Evloev gained the upper hand in the closing stages.

Murphy was roared on by the crowd as he continued to get back to his feet, but Evloev’s nine takedowns by the end of the bout told a telling story.

“I told you I was a better striker than him – joking!” said Evloev.

“Me and my coach were preparing more fakes, takedowns and punches. I think my punches are hard, I can hurt the opponent. Look at his face, he is damaged. I don’t have to use my wrestling to get the win.”

Fabian Edwards’ wait for a world title goes on after he loses against Costello van Steenis, who successfully defends his PFL middleweight title with a third-round knockout in Madrid.

READ MORE: Van Steenis ends Edwards’ title dream again

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It is a first title of the year for Sinner, who had his Australian Open title defence ended by Djokovic in a thrilling five-set semi-final in January.

Sinner also extends his head-to-head record against Medvedev, having won nine of their past 10 meetings.

Despite the loss, Medvedev will re-enter the top 10 when the rankings are updated on Monday.

The former US Open champion almost missed the tournament, having been stuck in Dubai because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

After arriving in the USA, Medvedev showed why he was previously at the top of the men’s game, with a fine semi-final victory over world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

However, it was Sinner who edged the tight moments on Sunday, helped by his imperious serve.

Sinner won 43 of 47 first-serve points, hit 10 aces and won 60% of points behind his second serve to remain in control of the match.

Medvedev saved the only two break points of the final and came close to forcing a third set when he went 4-0 up in the tie-break.

However, Sinner reeled off seven points in a row to close out the match and win back-to-back Masters 1,000 titles without dropping a set.

Elsewhere, world number three Djokovic has withdrawn from this week’s Miami Open with injury.

The Serb great has won the title six times and finished runner-up to Jakub Mensik last year.

However, the 24-time Grand Slam champion said a right shoulder injury had stopped him competing at the hard-court event, which begins on Monday.

INDIANAPOLIS — The UCLA women’s basketball team’s tear through the Big Ten continued on Friday, as the Bruins defeated Washington 78-60 to advance to the conference tournament semifinals.

Behind 26 points from center Lauren Betts, the No. 1 seed Bruins took down No. 8 seed Huskies with an explosive second half to stay undefeated in conference play.

Washington (21-10, 11-9), which defeated No. 9 seed USC on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinal, struggled to respond to UCLA’s second-half surge and trailed by 19 in the fourth quarter.

UCLA (22-1, 19-0), the second ranked team in the nation in the Associated Press top 25 poll, started slow, missing five consecutive shots in a five-plus minute scoring drought in the first quarter. The Bruins’ six first-quarter points were a season low.

The Huskies extended a 10-point lead into the second quarter. Betts, though, kept the Bruins’ deficit from growing with 10 points in the first half, sparking a 15-2 run during the final 6:10. UCLA, which boasts the best three-point percentage in the Big Ten, didn’t make any treys in the first half and didn’t hit one until Kiki Rice’s with 5:27 left in the third quarter.

It tied for the worst three-point shooting performance from the Bruins this season (one for 10).

UCLA led 27-24 at halftime.

Washington went up briefly in the third quarter, powered by 18 points from guard Avery Howell, but the Bruins scoring finally found their rhythm shortly after. UCLA shot 54% overall from the field.

It was UCLA’s 10th consecutive win against the Huskies. It was the Bruins’ 23rd straight win overall after last losing on Nov. 26.

UCLA will face the winner of No. 4 seed Minnesota and No. 5 seed Ohio State in a Big Ten tournament semifinal on Saturday, with a berth in the Big Ten championship game on the line.