Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko could not help but add insult to injury following the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, suggesting Lewis Hamilton should have retired at the end of last season.
The seven-time Formula One world champion finished out of the points in 13th position at Imola and to compound the misery, was lapped by rival Max Verstappen, who went on to win the race in a one-two for Red Bull.
Mercedes have struggled to come to grips with porpoising as a result of new regulations this season, but Hamilton's form is in stark contrast to that of team-mate George Russell, who sits 21 points ahead in the driver's standings and finished fourth on Sunday.
When asked how Hamilton might be feeling after Imola, Marko could not resist.
"I mean, he was lapped by us, so I don't know," Marko told Sky Sports F1. "Maybe he is thinking he should have stopped last year,"
Verstappen played down the gravity of Hamilton being lapped, however, saying it's a natural consequence of the disparity in performance between the Red Bull and Mercedes packages.
"They've been slow all year so for me it's not really anything exciting, it just happens," he said.
Verstappen's win at Imola was an assured drive, the Dutchman untroubled from pole to finish. With Carlos Sainz out on the opening lap, Red Bull were able to put second-placed Sergio Perez on a different strategy to force Ferrari's hand with championship leader Charles Leclerc.
The reigning world champion moved to second place in the driver's standings on 59 points, 27 points behind Leclerc, who recovered from a spin on lap 53 to finish sixth.
Marko asserted the one-two was a critical result from the standpoints of team morale and the championship, following DNFs in Bahrain and Australia.
"It was very important after our problems in Bahrain and Australia from the engine side…another one-two, the last one was 2016 in Malaysia," Marko said.
"It was about time, for the morale and everything it's more than important. It showed that we are competitive, we just have to get the package together and then we are there.
"There are so many races coming, the important thing is that we have such a strong package, so the championship will be very exciting but hopefully it doesn't go the last race like last year."
Trae Young acknowledged feeling smothered by the Miami Heat's defensive schemes after another poor showing in the Atlanta Hawks' 110-86 defeat in Game 4 on Sunday.
Despite hitting the game-winning shot in Game 3, Young went six-of-14 from the floor and it was more of the same on Sunday, going three-of-11 from the floor for nine points and only one attempt from two-point range.
Notably in the second half, Young had as many turnovers as shot attempts with four, as Heat coach Erik Spoelstra threw numerous looks at him.
Either forcing the ball out of his hands or denying him entry into the paint, Young concedes he has not been regularly guarded in such a manner at professional or collegiate level.
"I haven't been guarded like this in a long time," Young said post-game. "Obviously you're guarded like this every now and then, but [not] consistently since like, high school.
"And it's way better competition. It's harder for me to score through the double-teams and faceguards at this level.
"I have to learn how to fight through it and make it easier for myself and my teammates. I'll figure it out."
Hawks coach Nate McMillan has been just as paralysed by the Heat's defensive attention for Young, who has gone 20-of-57 from the floor and averaged six turnovers a game for the series.
Without a legitimate second ball-handling option, Atlanta have had to persist with the 23-year-old carrying the ball up instead of working off screens.
"There's a guy in Trae's face as soon as the ball goes to him," McMillan said. "They're basically playing a box and one and switching, committing two or three guys to him."
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says his side is still in an ideal situation despite the Denver Nuggets claiming a 126-121 win on Sunday and avoiding a sweep.
Careless play put the Warriors down 17 points down at one stage, but they managed to eventually draw level through the shooting of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry.
Turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, the Dubs started in a sloppy manner against a Denver side fighting to keep their season alive.
The 56-year-old Kerr believes Golden State are still in a good spot and that the nature of the loss can nevertheless act as a good reference point looking ahead in the post-season.
"We needed that," Kerr said post-match. "We took ourselves out of the game because we were too excited, and part of winning playoff basketball games on the road is executing being poised, understanding what's happening and sticking to the game plan. We didn't deserve to win.
"But now, you take that and put it in your back pocket, and you've got it in the memory bank for the next time we're in that situation.
"But the focus now goes to heading home and getting back in front of our fans. This is the situation you want in any playoff series when you're hosting – sweep the first two, get one out of two on the road and go home with a chance to clinch. We're right where we need to be."
Kerr's play-calling down the stretch also came under scrutiny after the loss.
Following a Monte Morris floater to put the Nuggets up 123-121 with 33 seconds remaining, Kerr called a lob for Andrew Wiggins off the inbound from the consequent timeout.
Austin Rivers' steal of Otto Porter Jr's inbound pass effectively sealed the win for Denver, but it came in the face of Curry and Thompson in good shooting rhythm.
"Yeah, I would like that play back," Kerr said. "There's 33 seconds so we're thinking a two-for-one. If we get a two-for-one, then we can tie the game and have a chance to win it at the end.
"So it's a good two-for-one situation, but the lob wasn't there, and if I could do it do it again I'd probably draw up something different. But they made a great defensive play, give them credit."
The Chicago Bulls supporters booing Grayson Allen no longer bothers the Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard, who propelled his side to a 3-1 playoff series lead on Sunday.
Allen fell out of favour with the Chicago faithful after his flagrant foul on guard Alex Caruso during a game in January resulted in a two-month absence for the Bulls star.
The 26-year-old, formerly of Duke, has since been greeted with boos at any opportunity as the Bucks hit the road for the playoffs in Chicago, but that has been music to Allen's ears.
He set a career-high in the playoffs in Game 3 when he scored 22 in a 111-81 triumph at the United Center, before surpassing that the following game with 27 points, including six three-pointers, in a 119-95 victory.
Allen is 18 of 24 from the field and 11 for 14 on three-pointers over the past two games, but it is the playful jeers from his own Bucks bench that has made the hostile atmosphere easier for him.
"They have so much fun doing it," he told reporters of his team-mate's decision to boo him in practice, the team hotel or film sessions.
"I think it's honestly hilarious. They've kind of turned it into a fun thing. It makes hearing it out there during the game a lot easier too because they think it's so funny.
"It's not naturally comfortable for me. I am to the point now, anytime I go out and play basketball, I just remind myself to go out and have fun with this.
"My personality is naturally uncomfortable with the attention, the booing, the heckling. It's not something I feed off of. I'm not going out searching for it."
Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo is also enjoying his team-mate thriving under the pressure and playfully suggested the Bucks fans may have to try a new way of motivating Allen.
"He's played amazing, maybe we got to boo him even more," Antetokounmpo said. "Maybe Milwaukee fans, we got to boo him ... nah, we're not going to do that."
Meanwhile, guard Jrue Holiday added: "When we booed him during the game, and he really started hooping, I think we just stuck with it."
Allen also became the first Bucks player to score 25 points and knock down six 3s in a playoff game and first Milwaukee player with at least 25 points off the bench since Tim Thomas in 2003, according to ESPN.
And Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was delighted to see Allen step up in the absence of Khris Middleton, who will miss the rest of this first-round series after sustaining an injury to his left knee.
"He's kind of quiet, but confident," Budenholzer said of Allen. "I think this is a confident group, a group that sees a player that can help them and appreciates his competitiveness.
"He's just quiet, no bull****, and comes to play. I think our guys gravitate towards that type of mentality. It's certainly been a good fit."
It was not just his Milwaukee colleagues showering Allen with praise either, Bulls guard Zach LaVine was also quick to credit his opponent.
"You got to give [Allen] credit," LaVine said. "He's hitting shots. Obviously, we know what happened [with the Caruso injury]. At the end of the day, it's basketball too. We understand it. But it's not like we're going out there saying, 'That guy can't beat us.'
"The Milwaukee Bucks can't beat us and he's part of their team. Them as a whole is beating us right now. You can't just account for him. It's everybody."
Chicago have lost six straight home playoff games since beating Cleveland in Game 3 of the 2015 Eastern Conference semi-finals, losing that series in six. The Bulls will look to make amends in Game 5 on the road on Wednesday as they aim to keep the playoff series alive.
The Phoenix Suns were left unimpressed by the physicality and officiating in their 118-103 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans that levelled the playoff series at 2-2 on Sunday.
The Pelicans repeatedly tested the Suns inside the paint in Game 4, with Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas combining to shoot half of New Orleans' 42 free throws.
By contrast, Monty Williams' Phoenix shot 15 from the line – in what was a 17-2 first-half difference between the sides – while being called for 12 more fouls than their opponents (28 versus 16).
The evergreen Chris Paul did not have one free-throw chance, after throwing 14 in the first three games, and went scoreless in the fourth quarter against defensive nuisance Jose Alvarado, who is a rookie guard.
The 36-year-old also managed just four points at the Smoothie King Center, a joint-low return in his playoff career alongside a four-point tally against the Denver Nuggets in April 2009.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Paul suggested the physicality was a throwback to yesteryear in basketball: "It's like the old NBA, isn't it?
"I asked one of the refs one time, 'Are we playing in the old NBA or the new NBA?'
"I was fortunate enough to play in both of them, we just have to figure out which one it's going to be. Regardless, whatever it is, you've to adjust early in the game and figure it out."
The Suns' coach Williams echoed Paul's frustrations as he bemoaned the officiating but acknowledged the eighth-seeded Pelicans were worthy winners in the Western Conference match-up.
"Forty-two to 15 in free throws – slice it any way you like to, in a playoff game that's physical, that's amazing," he said.
"Coaches shouldn't have to come up to the microphone and feel like they're going to get their head cut off for speaking the truth. It's not like we didn't attack the basket. That's really hard to do.
"They outplayed us and they deserved to win, but that's a free throw disparity."
The Pelicans attempted 46 shots in the paint to the Suns' 41, and New Orleans coach Willie Green was delighted with his team's aggressiveness.
"We were being aggressive. They dominated the paint last game," Green said. "Had 64 points in the paint. So we were well aware that we had to do better in that area."
Paul had 28 assists and zero turnovers in Games 2 and 3, but only produced 11 assists – four of those coming in the fourth quarter – and three turnovers in Game 4.
And Pelicans guard CJ McCollum was delighted with the defensive showing against the first-seeded Phoenix.
"I was tired of hearing about [Paul] breaking records during the fourth quarter," McCollum said of Paul.
"It's just a credit to our defense. Especially our intensity. But also, it's a make-or-miss league. He is not going to make every shot. But some nights, he is going to make a lot of tough ones.
"Tonight, he missed some shots he made the last three games. Credit our defense. But it's a make-or-miss league."
The Suns will also have to contain Ingram in Game 5 on Tuesday after he became the first Pelicans player in team history to score 30 or more in three consecutive playoff games.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the only team remaining in the MLB without five losses, with Sunday's 10-2 win against the San Diego Padres moving their record to 11-4.
It was another near-spotless start for Dodgers ace and future Hall-of-Famer Clayton Kershaw, conceding just one run and four base runners in five complete innings.
Padres starter Sean Manaea is a Cy Young award contender in his own right, but he did not have his best outing against a formidable Dodgers line-up, conceding six earned runs in just over four innings.
The runs were started with a Justin Turner sacrifice-fly to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the opening inning, before Freddie Freeman smashed a 425-foot home run to score two more runs in the third frame.
Los Angeles' Cody Bellinger hit a solo home run of his own the next inning, and then went again with a three-run bomb in the fifth to increase the margin to 8-1.
Buxton blasts in extra innings
Minnesota Twins center-fielder Byron Buxton hit the longest walk-off home run in the MLB Statcast era to defeat the Chicago White Sox 6-4 in extra innings.
Buxton was the hero on two occasions on Sunday, tying the game at 3-3 in the seventh inning with a 366-foot home run that barely made it over the wall, before leaving no doubt in the last at-bat of the game.
After the White Sox went up 4-3 in the top of the 10th inning, Buxton stepped to the plate trailing by one, with two runners on base. His 469-foot, three-run blast is the longest game-winner since at least 2015 when Statcast began tracking.
Cole and Rizzo lead Yankees to Guardians sweep
Gerrit Cole bounced back from his poor start against the Detroit Tigers as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 10-2, claiming a sweep of their three-game series.
Not even lasting two innings against the Tigers - the shortest start of his career - Cole pitched into the seventh against the Guardians, striking out nine and allowing only four hits over 92 pitches.
Anthony Rizzo's two-run home run in the first inning tied him for the American League lead with five. It was the Yankees' fifth win in the past six, heading into a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, who sit bottom in the AL East.
The Denver Nuggets narrowly avoided a series sweep on Sunday, coming up big on both ends in the final seconds to beat the Golden State Warriors 126-121.
Down 17 points at one stage and nine to start the fourth quarter, the Warriors were able to claw their way level through Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who combined for 55 points for the game and on 22-of-43 shooting from the floor.
The Warriors could not seize the opportunity to lead with scores tied at 121 however, when Andrew Wiggins missed a tip-dunk off a Thompson miss, an open catch-and-shoot three in the corner.
A Monte Morris floater gave the Nuggets the lead with 33.5 seconds remaining, and Austin Rivers' steal from the consequent Otto Porter Jr. inbound effectively settled the result. Will Barton's corner three from a Nikola Jokic feed was punctuation mark.
Jokic was exceptional with Denver's season on the line, coming up with 37 points on 14-of-21 shooting, eight rebounds and six assists.
Pels level series against Suns
The New Orleans Pelicans have managed to level the series with the first-seeded Phoenix Suns, comfortably winning Game 4 118-103.
The combination of the Pels' defensive flexibility and length combined with the Suns' continued struggles in injured star Devin Booker's absence has made this a series.
While Deandre Ayton was able to provide a presence under the basket with 23 points and eight rebounds, Chris Paul and Mikal Bridges shot a combined six-of-19 from the floor.
Jonas Valanciunas came up with important buckets down the stretch on his way to 26 points and 15 rebounds.
Heat and Bucks take commanding leads in East
The Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks now have the chance to advance in the playoffs on their home floors, defeating the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls respectively.
The Heat defeated the Hawks 110-86 to take a 3-1 series lead, with the latter held to just 15 points in the second quarter.
It was a particularly tough night for Trae Young after his game-winner in Game 3, taking only four shots in the second half and committing as many turnovers.
The Milwaukee Bucks also took a 3-1 series lead on Sunday, claiming a big 119-95 win over the Chicago Bulls.
Grayson Allen provided crucial minutes off the bench with 27 points off 10-of-12 shooting, including six-of-seven from beyond the arc, as well as three steals.
Carlos Alcaraz traced his competitiveness back to his genetics and insisted "fame doesn't scare me" after winning the Barcelona Open.
The title is his third singles crown of the season after also winning in Rio de Janeiro and Miami.
On Sunday, Alcaraz needed just 67 minutes to defeat compatriot Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-3 6-2, giving up no break point opportunities for the entire match.
Speaking with the media after presentations, the 18-year-old said his perseverance was the key after a short turnaround from a tough semi-final against Alex de Minaur.
"I couldn't have finished the tournament in a better way," he said. "I wasn't that tired after the semi-final – I had less recovery time, but I took it as a challenge to come out stronger in the final.
"In the semi-final I always thought it was possible to come back. Thanks to my perseverance I was able to improve and find my level.
"In the end it is about trying – failing and improving – and thanks to this I raised my level in the semi-finals and then in the final.
"The competitive and winning gene that I have comes from my family. They have always insisted on it and I think that you always have to go for it. I always think of giving everything, and that is what I have done."
After breaking into the world top-10, Alcaraz said there is no ceiling to his talent and the heights he can reach.
"I don't have any limits, I don't want to set any," he said. "I want to continue playing at the level I have, and I think that if I continue like this I have many options to continue climbing.
"I want to continue enjoying myself on the court, I still don't want to touch the ceiling.
"I've always been a normal boy. Fame doesn't scare me, I'm going to continue being the same as always, I'm not going to change the person I am.
"I'm glad to know that at 18 I'm in the top-10, and to do it on the same date that my idol Rafa did it is impressive."
Xavi has told Barcelona they have "five finals" to play as they attempt to banish their April blues and make sure of a Champions League place.
A third consecutive home defeat has left second-placed Barcelona 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, who should wrap up the LaLiga title on Saturday, needing just to avoid defeat against Espanyol to make sure.
While Barcelona's great rivals get set to celebrate, there is significant work to do for coach Xavi after his Blaugrana team were beaten 1-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano, who completed a league double over the Catalan giants.
Andoni Iraola became the first manager to beat Barcelona home and away in his first season in LaLiga since Quique Hernandez did so at Hercules in the 1996-97 season.
Alvaro Garcia scored with the only shot on target that Vallecano managed all night, and with a little luck Barcelona would have enjoyed a better outcome, but they are all out of luck just now.
A Europa League loss to Eintracht Frankfurt and LaLiga defeats to Cadiz and now Vallecano have been unexpected setbacks for a team who were on an immense high five weeks ago when they spanked Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Assessing the Vallecano setback and its impact, Xavi said: "I don't think it's a lack of personality on the part of the team. There are emergencies at the club, both football-wise and financially. It's a difficult situation and we have to face it.
"Now it's time to rest, disconnect and in the middle of the week we will get back on and prepare for the Mallorca game. We have five finals remaining, we've complicated it for ourselves."
Barcelona should still achieve a top-four finish, given they remain six points clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, but Xavi wants more than to see his side stumble over the line.
Their objective is to finish the season strongly and build momentum for the next campaign, and performances such as Sunday's disrupt the significant progress that has been made since Xavi's appointment in November.
Speaking to Movistar LaLiga, Xavi said: "In the first half we were not good, but in the second we improved, and the feeling is that we deserved much more. We had shots from all sides, from outside [the penalty area], from inside. But it didn't want to go in.
"In the first half it wasn't us, we didn't have the personality that we had to have in the game. Everything has been complicated for us today. It was a slow game, with interruptions."
He said Barcelona needed to show greater desire, and pointed to how Sunday's visitors capitalised on their big moment in front of goal.
The three shots that Rayo Vallecano attempted ranked as their lowest total in a LaLiga game this season.
"Rayo had one and a half chances," Xavi said. "We return to the issue of effectiveness.
"We are in a difficult situation. We are still in the Champions League places but we have complicated it for ourselves because if we had beaten Cadiz and Rayo it would have almost given us qualification for the Champions League."
Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a tournament-record score of 29 under.
It was an incredible week for the duo, setting the course-record 59 in Thursday's four-ball format, and nearly matching it on Saturday with a 60, while also performing strongly in the alternate shot style in rounds two and four.
They also became the first team to win the tournament in wire-to-wire fashion, leading after all four rounds, and setting the record for best score at each interval.
Sunday was the toughest of the four days for the winners, after back-to-back bogeys on nine and 10 cancelled out their eagle on seven, with a birdie on 11 and a bogey on 18 capping off an even-par finish.
Speaking to the media after stepping off the 18th green, Schauffele expressed his excitement at winning alongside such a close friend.
"It's awesome – I said it earlier this week, if there's any success that I could share with someone, it would be Pat, so I'm happy we could get it done," he said.
"I'm not sure [how we broke all the records], we just plodded along. Today was the worst of our four quarters, but Pat was very calm, which helped me stay calm.
"It's been a while since I've been in some sort of contention here, so I think it was just overall calmness and patience."
Cantlay added: "We had a lot of fun both on and off the golf course, and we're really happy to get it done. We definitely bring out the best in each other, and we really enjoy being out here together."
Sam Burns and Billy Horschel finished outright second, two strokes behind the leaders, but three strokes clear of third place with a score of 27 under that equalled the previous tournament record.
The pairing of Doc Redman and Sam Ryder finished outright third at 24 under, and with a 67 on Sunday, they were one of two teams – along with Burns and Horschel – to shoot four rounds in the 60s.
Davis Riley and Will Zalatoris posted the round of the day with a bogey-free 66, finishing with birdies on 17 and 18 to jump up into a tie for fourth at 23 under.
Joining Riley and Zalatoris at 23 under were the groups of Keegan Bradley with Brendan Steele, Harold Varner III with Bubba Watson, Taylor Moore with Matthew NeSmith, Garrick Higgo with Brandan Grace, and Aaron Rai with David Lipsky.
Reigning Masters champion and the season's points leader Scottie Scheffler finished at 18 under with partner Ryan Palmer, while The Players champion Cameron Smith was 17 under with compatriot Marc Leishman.
Father-son pairing Jay Haas and Bill Haas shot an even-par 72 to finish even or better in all four rounds as Jay became the oldest player to ever make a PGA Tour cut at 68 years old.
Sergio Busquets admitted Barcelona are stuck in "a negative dynamic" after a 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano that means they have lost three consecutive home games for the first time this century.
Alvaro Garcia's fine strike in the seventh minute condemned Barcelona to a Camp Nou loss, with Vallecano doing the double over the Catalan giants in LaLiga this season.
Barcelona had only suffered three straight losses at home once in their rich history, when Louis van Gaal's team experienced that disappointment in games spanning the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
Now they must pick themselves up from the bitter blow and go again next Sunday, when Real Mallorca will be their visitors.
Busquets said in a post-match LaLiga interview: "We're finding it really hard to win games at home at the moment. We've been conceding goals very early and that makes it even tougher for us, then you suffer a little bit more.
"Then the teams close up and defend the result. When you're not effective in both areas, it's a bit of a struggle as well."
Barcelona did not concede until early in the second half when losing 1-0 to Cadiz at home, but in their Europa League loss to Eintracht Frankfurt they were 2-0 down by the break, and it took two goals in second-half stoppage time to cut their deficit to 3-2 in that game.
Barcelona's latest defeat means they remain second in the Spanish top flight, albeit level on points with third-placed Sevilla, and Real Madrid's lead at the top is 15 points with five rounds of games remaining.
Madrid can clinch the title by avoiding defeat to Espanyol next weekend.
Captain Busquets said Barcelona attempted to add pace to their game in the second half, but they were largely flat and increasingly desperate as Vallecano manfully defended their lead.
Barcelona led the shot count 18-3, but only five of their shots hit the target. Their 71.3 per cent of possession counted for little come the final whistle as Vallecano became just the fourth promoted team to win both of their games against Barcelona in a LaLiga campaign, and the first since UD Salamanca in 1997-98.
"They were very well set up, we weren't effective," Busquets said. "When you don't score and the minutes go by, everything gets a lot tougher.
"We're in this negative dynamic at Camp Nou. We haven't been able to take advantage of the games we've had, and we've ended up level with Sevilla.
"Maybe in the second half we needed to put more attacking players on and go for the game. We had crosses in, we had chances, but it wasn't to be."
Stefano Pioli believes his Milan players do not get the credit they deserve after Sandro Tonali's stoppage-time goal sealed a vital 2-1 win over Lazio on Sunday.
Olivier Giroud had cancelled out Ciro Immobile's early opener at the Stadio Olimpico, but it looked like the Rossoneri would hand the title initiative to Inter after a series of wasted chances.
Tonali had other ideas, though, the midfielder popping up in the second minute of added time to secure a win that lifted Milan two points clear of Inter at the top of the table, although they have played a game more.
The result meant they have won three games against Maurizio Sarri's men in a single season (two in Serie A, one in the Coppa Italia) for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.
Speaking to DAZN immediately after the game, Pioli spoke of his pride at his players' efforts and insists they do not receive the plaudits they should.
"I am so proud of my players and if I was in their shoes, I'd be angry," he said. "People don't give them enough credit. For years, they have been proving themselves at the highest level.
"We will try to win all the remaining games. We might not achieve that, but we will give it our best.
"We know it's a tricky fixture list. All we can do is take it one game at a time and try to do the best we possibly can."
The result confirmed Milan's qualification for next season's Champions League – an achievement Pioli says demonstrates the strides his side have made.
"The important thing is we are in the Champions League," he added. "This time last season, we weren't sure if we would be in the top four, so this shows further progress.
"There are still some steps to climb, but those are the ones that will give us the greatest satisfaction."
Tonali echoed Pioli's sentiments, saying that no one is talking about Milan being genuine title challengers despite their position in the table.
"We have to take it one game at a time," he explained. "We came here and nobody other than us and our fans believed in us.
"We are in front without hearing anyone say Milan are the leaders or that Milan are a strong side. We're used to it now."
Milan return to action next Sunday when Fiorentina visit San Siro.
Novak Djokovic is "progressing slowly but surely" ahead of the French Open as the world number one took positives from his run to the Serbia Open final.
The Serbian remains without an ATP Tour title this season after losing 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 to Andrey Rublev on home clay in Belgrade on Sunday.
It has been a disrupted 2022 for Djokovic, having been prevented from playing the Australian Open due to his unvaccinated status, a factor which also meant he was barred from competing in tournaments in the United States last month.
He only made it as far as the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championships in his first tournament of the year in February and suffered a surprise loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last 32 of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Djokovic showed signs of improvement in Serbia, though, as he defeated Laslo Djere, Miomir Kecmanovic and Karen Khachanov en route to reaching the final.
Rublev proved a step too far for Djokovic, who faded badly in the deciding set against an opponent aged 10 years younger, but the 34-year-old is remaining upbeat ahead of next month's French Open.
"Things are progressing slowly but surely," he said. "Paris is the big goal and hopefully by Paris I'll be ready.
"I have to look at the positives – playing the final in front of my home crowd, it was unfortunate that in the third set I ran out of gas and couldn't deliver more of a fight.
"After four three-set battles I can say that I am tired but also pleased that I managed to win the matches prior to this one.
"I think that will serve me for the continuation of the clay-court season."
Djokovic is set to return to action at the Madrid Masters in a little over a week's time, an event he enters as top seed.
The Brooklyn Nets are listing Ben Simmons as out for Game 4 against the Boston Celtics.
Simmons has yet to play a game this season, with a back injury keeping him on the sideline since being traded to Brooklyn at the deadline.
Indications had been that the three-time All-Star was trending towards his Nets debut in Game 4 of the series, but the inevitability of the outcome may be leading to some extra caution.
The Nets trail the series 3-0, a deficit no NBA team has come back from in the seven-game series format.
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