Naomi Osaka did not raise a sweat en route to the Miami Open last 16 as Garbine Muguruza moved through but Sofia Kenin and Karolina Pliskova bowed out.

Australian Open champion and second seed Osaka benefited from a walkover after qualifier Nina Stojanovic withdrew ahead of Sunday's clash due to a right thigh injury.

Elise Mertens will face Osaka following the 16th seed's 6-2 0-6 6-2 win against Anett Kontaveit.

Two-time grand slam winner Muguruza rallied past Russian wildcard Anna Kalinskaya at the WTA Premier event.

However, fourth seed Kenin was sent packing as sixth seed Pliskova was tamed by nemesis Jessica Pegula in Miami.

MUGURUZA STAYS HOT

Spanish star Muguruza dug deep to earn her tour-leading 20th win of the season.

Former world number one Muguruza – the 12th seed – prevailed 4-6 6-3 6-4 against Kalinskaya, having trailed 3-0 in the final set.

"I brought my fighting spirit and I could match the level of fighting against Anna, and very happy to go through these tough matches," Muguruza said following two hours, 41 minutes on court.

"Doesn't matter if you play pretty or you play ugly, but you stay strong and you go through these rounds. That gives me an opportunity to feel better and to have another chance."

Muguruza – who has the most final appearances this season with three, having won the Dubai Tennis Championships and finished runner-up at the Qatar Open and Yarra Valley Classic – will next face eighth seed Bianca Andreescu.

Former US Open champion Andreescu overcame fellow seed Amanda Anisimova 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (2-7) 6-4.

KENIN'S WOES CONTINUE

It has been a rough 2021 for American star Kenin.

Stunned in the second round of the Australian Open – in her title defence – Kenin then crashed out of the Phillip Island Trophy at the first hurdle.

Kenin rallied to beat Andrea Petkovic first-up in Miami, but the 22-year-old was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-4 by 27th seed Ons Jabeur.

Jabeur and Sara Sorribes Tormo – who shocked 21st seed Elena Rybakina 6-1 3-6 6-2 – will meet for a spot in the quarter-finals.

PLISKOVA FALLS TO PEGULA… AGAIN

For the third time this past month, 2019 Miami Open runner-up Pliskova went down 6-1 4-6 6-4 to 29th seed Pegula.

Australian Open quarter-finalist Pegula conquered Pliskova in Doha and Dubai before repeating the feat in Miami on Sunday.

"I played her a lot the last three weeks, three tournaments," Pegula said. "I kind of expected her to play well there. Even when I was up I still felt like she could easily come back just because she plays so aggressive and she serves well."

After reeling off the final four games, Pegula set up a last-16 showdown with 23rd seed Maria Sakkari, who dismantled qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 6-0 6-1.

Andre Drummond has joined the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA champions announced on Sunday.

Drummond was planning to team up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angeles after clearing waivers.

Two-time All-Star Drummond agreed to a contract buyout on the remainder of his $27.9million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

"Andre Drummond gives us powerful, anchor-point skills on both ends of the court," Lakers vice-president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said.

"We feel extremely fortunate to add a player of his calibre and magnitude to our core group at this stage of our journey to defend the NBA title."

It is a boost for the Lakers (29-17), who are fourth in the Western Conference as superstar duo James (ankle) and Davis (calf) are sidelined.

Drummond has not played since February 12 after he and the Cavaliers agreed he would be shut down until a trade or buyout was completed, following the arrival of younger center Jarrett Allen.

The 27-year-old Drummond – who has led the league in rebounding four times – has averaged 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in 25 starts this season.

Drummond is one of 20 players in league history to record more than 9,000 career points, 8,500 rebounds, 850 steals and 950 blocks.

He is also the NBA's all-time leader in seasons with at least 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 100 steals and 100 blocks, having accomplished the feat four times.

Drummond spent eight seasons with the Detroit Pistons, earning two All-Star selections, before being traded to the Cavaliers last year.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is listed as questionable for Monday's game against the Chicago Bulls after missing time due to a tailbone bruise.

Curry has not played since suffering a bruised tailbone in the Warriors' win over the lowly Houston Rockets in the NBA on March 17.

However, the two-time MVP is a chance to return when the Warriors face the Bulls, having practiced fully on Sunday.

"We scrimmaged some just now and he's getting some extra work in, so we want to see how he responds to that," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said afterwards.

"And then it's a discussion with [Warriors director of sports medicine and performance] Rick [Celebrini] and the training staff. We'll see where it all goes."

Curry is averaging 29.0 points, 6.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Warriors this season.

The Warriors (22-24) have lost four straight games to sit 10th in the Western Conference, adrift of the playoff positions.

"It's always great to have a guy like him around," Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson said. "Just based on his presence. On the floor, off the floor, who he is, the energy he brings.

"Today there was a turnover in practice and he got upset and it was like, 'OK, our leader's back, our guy's back,' so it's exciting.

"Obviously we're a much better team with him on the floor. So super excited to have him back whenever that is. Hopefully, sooner the better."

The Brooklyn Nets announced the signing of LaMarcus Aldridge in a further boost to their star-studded roster on Sunday.

Aldridge's agent Jeff Schwartz on Saturday revealed the seven-time All-Star had agreed to join the Nets for the rest of the NBA season.

The 35-year-old Aldridge agreed to a contract buyout with the San Antonio Spurs earlier this month.

Aldridge will now join forces with James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin in Brooklyn as the Nets eye their first NBA championship.

Averaging 19.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in his 15 NBA seasons, including nine with the Portland Trail Blazers, Aldridge has not played since March 1.

Aldridge is averaging 13.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 2020-21.

Among active NBA players, Aldridge currently ranks third in field goals made (8,034), fifth in rebounds (8,454), sixth in points (19,887), eighth in blocks (1,129) and ninth in games played (1,024).

Aldridge, who helped the Spurs to the 2017 Western Conference Finals, has a postseason average of 20.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocks in 37.1 minutes per game.

Steve Nash's Nets (31-15) are second in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Philadelphia 76ers (32-14).

Billy Horschel held off Scottie Scheffler to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for the first time in his career.

Horschel was the last man standing in Austin, where the American outlasted 2020 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Scheffler in Sunday's final 2 and 1.

It was a Horschel and Scheffler showdown after the former had beaten Victor Perez 3 and 2 in the semis, while the latter advanced 1up against 2013 champion Matt Kuchar.

Horschel – the 32nd seed – secured his sixth PGA Tour title at the 17th hole following almost four hours on the course, with the final only featuring two birdies between the pair.

Kuchar, meanwhile, clinched third place by beating Perez 2 and 1 in the play-off.

"I got lucky that I had two guys that were like me, that didn't have their A game today or even maybe their B game," Horschel said. "We didn't hit very good golf shots this morning or even this afternoon and that allowed me to just be smart and not have to be aggressive and try and make birdies.

"Now, if Scottie would have got hot with some iron shots and started making birdies that puts a little bit of pressure on me. But it was just a tough day with this wind, trying to get close to some of these pins and the greens firming up as we played.

"So I'm fortunate. I had two guys today that missed some putts from inside 10 feet that they probably would make the majority of the time and that's obviously why I'm standing here as a champion."

Scheffler – the 30th seed – added: "I'm proud of the way I fought all week. My game was trending in the right direction pretty much the entire time, and this afternoon was really the first time I didn't play my best.

"I think this afternoon was probably my worst round out of the last four. So I grinded it out. I fought really hard and I just wasn't able to make the putts this afternoon."

Andre Drummond plans to join reigning NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers after clearing waivers.

Drummond agreed to a contract buyout on the remainder of his $27.9million deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

The two-time All-Star is now set to team up with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the injury-hit Lakers, his agent Jeff Schwartz told ESPN.

While the team are yet to announce the deal, Drummond posted a picture to Instagram with him in a Lakers jersey, captioned "Back to work" on Sunday.

Superstar duo James (ankle) and Davis (calf) are both sidelined through injury in Los Angeles, where the Lakers (29-17) are fourth in the Western Conference.

Drummond has not played since February 12 after he and the Cavaliers agreed he would be shut down until a trade or buyout was completed, following the arrival of younger center Jarrett Allen.

The 27-year-old Drummond has averaged 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in 25 starts this season.

Drummond spent eight seasons with the Detroit Pistons, earning two All-Star selections, before being traded to the Cavaliers last year.

Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash said while Kevin Durant "looks great", the former MVP is likely to miss another week as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Durant has been sidelined since February 13 due to a hamstring strain, which forced him to sit out the NBA All-Star Game this month.

As the star-studded Nets prepare to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, Nash provided an update on Durant.

"There's still steps for him to take, although he looks great, is progressing and will definitely be back with us," Nash said.

"It's just, I don't think this week is likely."

Durant is averaging 29.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game for the Nets this season.

Nash added: "[He] still needs to be monitored and still needs to get a certain amount of markers under his belt."

The Nets, though, will welcome back star Kyrie Irving following a three-game absence due to a family issue.

Irving is averaging a career-high 28.1 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Nets in 2020-21.

The seven-time All-Star's field-goal percentage this season (52.0) is also a career-high.

Brooklyn (31-15) – who have recruited veteran All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge – are second in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Philadelphia 76ers (32-14).

Italy were far from at their best against Bulgaria on Sunday, but Roberto Mancini did not expect anything different from his side.

Mancini's unbeaten run as Italy boss was extended to 24 games – one shy of Marcello Lippi's longest streak and just six off the all-time record, set by Vittorio Pozzo in the 1930s – as goals from Andrea Belotti and Manuel Locatelli sealed a 2-0 win in World Cup qualifying.

The victory took Italy, who beat Northern Ireland in their opening fixture, level on points with Switzerland at the top of Group C.

A much-changed Italy team dominated possession (67.6 per cent), and had 22 attempts, albeit 12 of these were blocked and only six were on target.

Indeed, the tight nature of the game is reflected by the fact that Federico Bernardeschi – who came on as a 76th-minute substitute – registered a game-high three chances, having entered the fray when the match was more of an open contest.

It was 1-0 at that stage, with Belotti's first-half penalty having opened the scoring. Locatelli was then on hand to curl in his first Italy goal – four of the last seven goals scored by the Azzurri have now been netted by Sassuolo players – and put the result beyond all doubt.

While they may have faulted at times in attack, Italy were rock solid in defence, keeping a sixth straight clean sheet on the road, which is their longest run.

In no mood to pick fault with his side, Mancini told RAI Sport: "All games are difficult, especially against teams like Bulgaria who put everyone behind the ball and just wait for the counter-attack.

"Until you find the breakthrough, there are no spaces and it makes life difficult.

"We are at a moment of the season where the players are a little tired. We didn't allow a single chance in the first half, and we only did in the second after we wasted numerous opportunities to extend our lead.

"As I said, there is no such thing as an easy match. The other teams don't give you space and instead just try to neutralise you. Until you get the opening goal, that's at a deadlock.

"I still think we put in a very good performance in the circumstances. We tried after the second goal tonight to score a third, which is what we should've done against Northern Ireland.

"I don’t see other sides winning 7-0 or 8-0 either this week. We know goal difference is important, but the points mean even more and we hope to beat Switzerland."

Germany head coach Joachim Low bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal during their slender 1-0 World Cup qualifying win against Romania on Sunday.

Serge Gnabry scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute, with the Bayern Munich forward, Leroy Sane and Timo Werner going on to squander opportunities to extend Die Mannschaft's advantage.

That almost came back to haunt Germany in the closing stages as the hosts went close through George Puscas and Nicolae Stanciu. 

Germany – the 2014 world champions – ultimately held on, though, to follow up Thursday's opening Group J win over Iceland with another three points. 

Low was largely pleased with Germany's display, but acknowledged they should have added to Gnabry's early goal.

"Romania were definitely the better team than Iceland in terms of football," he said. "We worked very well against the ball today and won some battles. 

"We could have made the game easier for ourselves if we had made it 2-0. If there's something to complain about, it's the big opportunities.

"The goalkeeper saved very well several times, but we could have been ice cold and more concentrated in front of goal.

"When the opponent has nothing more to lose, they throw everything forward. We had several chances in which we could have finished more cleanly, but we have three points."

Germany made just one substitution before stoppage time – Werner replacing Kai Havertz in the 77th minute – and Low said he stuck with his starting XI for so long as the game was under control. 

"It's important to get used to it," he added. "But I didn't switch because the game was under control for a long time. 

"We were doing well, the midfield did a good job. The opponent had no chances for a long time, so it wasn't absolutely necessary for a long time."

Joshua Kimmich, who struck the crossbar in the first half with a deflected half-volley, agreed with Low's assessment that Germany made life unnecessarily difficult for themselves. 

The Bayern Munich midfielder said: "We could have made it easier for ourselves. We were lucky that Romania didn't equalise in the 90th minute; that would've been karma for us not scoring again.

"We have to score earlier then we will have a quieter evening. I think we largely controlled the game, but still we didn't manage to decide it earlier."

Germany will be looking to make it three wins from three Group J games when they host North Macedonia on Wednesday. 

Ousmane Dembele is proving he is "on the right track" after the Barcelona winger scored in France's 2-0 defeat of Kazakhstan.

After drawing against Ukraine in their opening World Cup qualifier, the reigning world champions moved top of Group D in comfortable fashion on Sunday.

Dembele opened the scoring with a goal laid on by Martial, before Kazakhstan defender Sergiy Maliy put through his own net.

It marked France's seventh straight away win – their best run since January 1990 to October 1991.

Dembele, who has enjoyed a resurgence at Barca this season following several injury-hit campaigns at Camp Nou, was replaced by Kingsley Coman in the 90th minute, having created one chance and had two shots, both of which hit the target.

Martial teed up Dembele's goal – the only key pass played by the Manchester United forward, who had three attempts (two on target) before going off with an apparent injury in the 59th minute.

His replacement was Kylian Mbappe, and the Paris Saint-Germain star went on to have as many attempts as Martial, though one of those was a penalty he saw saved by Alexandr Mokin.

Asked for his thoughts on the displays of Dembele and Martial, Deschamps told a news conference: "They did some interesting things. 

"Ousmane confirmed that he is on the right track. He is capable of repeating efforts and of differing his play. He was rewarded with this goal. 

"Anthony is behind the first goal. It's good for both. From the moment I take them [in the squad] it is to use them. I have other attackers, but compared to the profile of the opponent, it was important to provoke and to dribble [at the opposition]. They did it pretty well."

Deschamps also stressed he has few concerns over France's somewhat laboured performances across their last two fixtures.

"Everyone is free to wait for what they want. The France team is efficient and continues to be," he said. 

"We do a lot of good things. There were no big scores [on Saturday] either. It is not easy for anyone. There is the opponent, the sequence of matches, plus everything that came before. These are not excuses. I told the players to do the job, to win. We won.

"There were nine new players from the match against Ukraine, but they already had experience. I'm not going to take away the credit. The qualifying games are always difficult, the main thing is to reach our goals."

France got off the mark at the European Under-21 Championship with a 2-0 win over Russia, while a second successive loss for England leaves them on the brink of elimination.

Les Bleuets went down 1-0 to Denmark in their tournament opener but responded with a routine win in Szombathely on Sunday through a pair of first-half penalties.

Odsonne Edouard won and converted the first of the spot-kicks after 15 minutes and Jonathan Ikone added a second from 12 yards with a precise Panenka.

Defeat for France would have knocked them out of the competition, but some good goalkeeping from Alban Lafont kept their two-goal margin intact and they live to fight on.

England's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals later this year were dealt another huge blow, however, as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Portugal in Ljubljana.

Aidy Boothroyd's side, who lost 1-0 to Switzerland in their opener, failed to muster a single shot on target versus Portugal and now require a helping hand in the final set of games.

A goal-line clearance from Ben Godfrey denied Portugal an early breakthrough, but their persistence paid off as they found the net for the 30th U21 Euros match running.

Dani Carvalho rounded off a counter with a low curler away from Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom corner and substitute Francisco Trincao converted a penalty 10 minutes later.

England now need to beat Croatia, who edged out Switzerland 3-2 earlier on Sunday, in their next match and hope Portugal beat the Swiss in Wednesday's other group clash.

Croatia were made to work hard for their victory at SRC Bonifika - their first ever in the competition - after seeing their three-goal lead reduced to just one in a thrilling contest.

Luka Ivanusec opened the scoring early on against the run of play and they were cruising when Nikola Moro and Dario Vizinger added quickfire goals shortly after the hour mark - the former from the penalty spot.

But there was to be some late drama as substitute Kastriot Imeri scored from the penalty spot and Sandro Kulenovic put into his own net.

Switzerland nearly snatched an incredible comeback point, only for Dominik Kotarski to deny Alexandre Jankewitz with a big save in added time.

Denmark were 2-0 winners against Iceland in Sunday's early kick-off, meanwhile, thanks to goals from Gustav Isaksen and Mads Bech in the first 18 minutes.

Oliver Christensen kept out a Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen penalty before half-time and Iceland failed to put up much of a fight from that point on.

The Danes are three points clear of France and Wednesday's opponents Russia, while Iceland are without a point but could still advance if results go their way next week.

Andrea Belotti was on target and Manuel Locatelli netted his first international goal as Italy continued their perfect start to World Cup qualifying with a 2-0 win over Bulgaria.

Roberto Mancini's men dispatched Northern Ireland 2-0 in their Group C opener on Thursday and joined Switzerland on six points with a routine victory from a rather stale contest in Sofia.

Belotti, who scored on his last Italy appearance in November, put them ahead – his penalty breaking the deadlock in the 43rd minute.

Italy's number nine missed two chances to put the result beyond all doubt but, with Bulgaria hardly offering a threat going the other way, Locatelli's superb finish wrapped up the points late on.

Federico Chiesa snatched at the only opening of a cagey opening half-an-hour, the Juventus winger flashing wide after latching onto Marco Verratti's pass.

Despite failing to register a shot on target, Italy got a chance to go ahead when Belotti was bundled over in the 42nd minute.

Taking the penalty he won, the Torino striker made no mistake, planting a firm finish into the bottom-left corner.

Bulgaria were furious not to be awarded a penalty of their own 11 minutes after the restart, with their appeals for a handball from Stefano Sensi dismissed.

Gianluigi Donnarumma had to make a superb save in the same move, though Birsent Karagaren was subsequently flagged offside.

Belotti twice went close as Italy pressed to settle the contest, hitting the post with a deft lob before lashing over on the rebound.

Yet there was little chance Italy would be left to rue Belotti's profligacy, and any lingering Bulgaria hopes were dashed when Locatelli curled in his maiden Azzurri goal.