breaks

Jannik Sinner has broken Novak Djokovic’s all-time record of successive match wins at ATP Masters 1000 tournaments by recording the 32nd straight victory of his historic streak to reach the Italian Open semi-finals.

The Italian world number one overpowered 12th seed Andrey Rublev 6-2 6-4 to continue his bid to join Djokovic as only the second man to win all nine Masters 1000 titles – the sport’s highest level below the Grand Slams.

Sinner, 24, appears in unstoppable form before the French Open – the only major standing between him and a career Grand Slam – begins on 24 May.

He has joined Spanish great Rafael Nadal as the only other man to reach semi-finals at each of the first five Masters 1000 events in a season, and will face Russian Daniil Medvedev for a place in the showpiece final.

Seventh seed Medvedev lost the first five games against Spanish lucky loser Martin Landaluce as he conceded the opening set in just 26 minutes, but battled back to win 1-6 6-4 7-5 and reach his first semi-final in the clay-court swing.

“I don’t play for records. I play just for my own story,” Sinner told the crowd.

“At the same time, it means a lot to me. But tomorrow is another opponent, in different conditions – it’s a night match.

“Now the highest priority for me is trying to recover as much as I can physically.

“Emotionally it takes a lot playing here at home. At the same time, I’ll definitely try to do my best. It’s a win-win situation for me in any case. It was a good day today.”

UCLA senior Megan Grant continues to etch her name into NCAA record books.

Grant hit her 38th home run of the season during a Big Ten tournament title game loss to Nebraska on Saturday, breaking the NCAA Division I record set in 1995 by Arizona’s Lauren Espinoza.

As a team, UCLA pushed its NCAA record single-season team home run total to 182.

After Grant’s historic bomb in the third inning off Big Ten pitcher of the year Jordy Frahm gave UCLA a 2-0 lead, the Bruins’ (47-8) offense sputtered and Nebraska (46-6) rolled to a 7-2 victory.

UCLA will learn its NCAA tournament matchup when the the softball bracket is revealed at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. The Bruins are expected to host an NCAA Regional and Super Regional should they advance.

Grant and Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells have hit homers at a blistering pace and are battling to close the season with the NCAA home run title. Wells has 36 home runs, two behind Grant. Her team was eliminated from the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday, but she can add to her tally when the loaded Sooners compete in the NCAA tournament.