Nick Kyrgios has defended Emma Raducanu amid a wave of recent criticism following the US Open champion's early exit from the Miami Open.
Raducanu was beaten by Katerina Siniakova in her first match in Miami this week after being given a bye into the second round.
She has won only four WTA Tour matches since sensationally becoming the first qualifier – male or female – to win a major in the Open Era at Flushing Meadows in September.
The 19-year-old has been in demand off the court, having last week announced she will be a brand ambassador for Porsche, but her business activities have attracted criticism.
Speaking after Raducanu's defeat to Siniakova, former world number five Daniela Hantuchova claimed the Briton has lost the locker room respect she had previously built up.
Kim Clijsters took aim at those who act as though they have "made it", meanwhile, though the four-time major winner did not mention Raducanu by name when making those comments.
Raducanu defended herself from the "unfair" accusations and Kyrgios has now questioned why former players have felt the need to take aim at the youngster.
"What’s with old retired players giving their opinion on our stars now?" he posted on Twitter, referencing a video uploaded by Andy Roddick on how players can curtail their anger.
"I love A-rod and I agree we all need to chill with the rackets and all that, but geezus.
"I read an article about a past female player talking about Radacanu, no offence, but she is a far, far bigger name already."
Max Verstappen put the frustrations of Bahrain behind him with a superb drive to edge Charles Leclerc for victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver and reigning world champion picked up his first points of the F1 season after coming out on top in a pulsating battle with his Ferrari rival.
It marked a return to the podium for the Dutchman after a late mechanical failure denied him a top-three finish at last week's season opener in Sakhir.
Leclerc seized the lead early on from Verstappen's team-mate Sergio Perez amid a safety car procession, following a crash by Williams' Nicholas Latifi, and looked poised for back-to-back wins after victory in Bahrain.
But amid a thrilling final stretch at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Leclerc was caught on the main straight heading into lap 47 by Verstappen.
Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz came home in third, to leave pole-sitter Sergio Perez fourth, while Lewis Hamilton, who started 15th following a dreadful qualifying session on Saturday, fought through the grid for a points finish in 10th.
After a tumultuous build-up to race day on and off the track, an uncharacteristically sedate start saw the grid mostly hold position in the opening moments.
Verstappen made one of the few jumps, getting the edge on Sainz down to Turn 1, but he was otherwise unable to gain early ground on Perez and Leclerc until Latifi's crash facilitated a reshuffle at the top.
Having maintained a one-second-plus advantage over Verstappen after taking the lead, Leclerc was forced to fight tooth and nail to keep himself ahead of the Red Bull man.
But with just four laps to go, he could not hold on to his slender lead and the Dutchman passed to notch up those first points of his title defence.
Scottie Scheffler survived a spirited fightback from Dustin Johnson to win 3 and 1 and reach the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play final, where he will meet Kevin Kisner on Sunday.
Johnson made it past Brooks Koepka in a heavyweight last-16 clash on Saturday, but struggled in the early stages against world number five Scheffler at the Austin Country Club.
Scheffler produced three birdies in his opening four holes to go 3up and furthered his advantage on the eighth and 11th to take a five-shot lead.
Two-time major winner Johnson responded by claiming the next four holes – with Scheffler finding the water when inexplicably attempting to hit the green on the short par-four 13th – to tee up a thrilling finale.
Johnson then squandered a presentable birdie opportunity at the par-five 16th to fall two behind again before Scheffler secured victory on the following hole to reach his second consecutive Match Play final.
Victory in the final would also see Scheffler move to the top of the world rankings if he can defeat Kisner, who came out on top in a topsy-turvy clash with Corey Conners in the other semi-final.
The pair could not be separated as they repeatedly exchanged the lead through 16 holes before Kisner nudged ahead with a birdie on the penultimate hole as Conners pushed his putt wide in response.
Kisner, who lifted the Match Play trophy in 2019, delivered an expert chip with his second shot on the 18th to close out victory and ensure he remains in the hunt for the title.
Andy Murray and Daniil Medvedev both know they could have done things better in Saturday's match, though it was the Russian who progressed with relative ease from the tie.
Medvedev, who enjoyed a short-lived stay as world number one earlier in March, defeated three-time grand slam winner Murray 6-4 6-2 to reach the third round of the Miami Open.
Murray beat Federico Delbonis in his first-round match but the former world number one has not won two successive games in a tournament since January, when he went all the way to the final in Sydney.
The crowd was largely on Murray's side in Saturday's contest yet Medvedev hardly felt the pressure. Indeed, the 26-year-old did not offer up a single break point throughout.
Nevertheless, Medvedev saw scope for development in his game, though was still able to reflect on a relatively routine victory.
"I think it was a great match. It's never easy, even if you practice on the same courts for one or two months, it's never going to be the same as a competitive tournament match," said Medvedev, who is top seed in Miami.
"So I'm happy that I managed to have zero break points against me. I feel like I have some room for improvement, but it was a great match against an amazing player and I'm happy that I managed to go through.
"On the days when you serve good, your opponent doesn't have this freedom to return, it helps you.
"[In the] second set, the scoreline was easier, it was much tougher in the beginning, but when your opponent knows you're probably going to get some aces and it's not going to be easy for him to return, he gets pressure on his serve and many times that is what happens in close matches.
"Every opportunity I had I tried to take it, to go for it, and there were a lot of moments when I was happy about my game."
Murray, on the other hand, acknowledged he is simply not yet at a level where he can expect to outlast the world's best players.
"My level of tennis is obviously not right now where it needs to be to win matches like that," the 34-year-old told reporters.
"Today there were some good signs on the court but the two key things in tennis are serve and return. I didn't do either of them particularly well."
Eddie Hearn revealed Josh Warrington broke his jaw during his victory over Kiko Martinez.
Warrington defeated Martinez in the seventh round on Saturday, to the delight of a partisan crowd in Leeds.
With that victory, his first since October 2019, Warrington regained the IBF featherweight title that he vacated in 2021.
While Warrington's win was a convincing one, it did not come easy, and promoter Hearn confirmed the 31-year-old had sustained an injury.
"Confirmed from the hospital @J_Warrington clean break of his jaw prior to stopping Kiko Martinez to win the World title tonight," wrote Hearn in a post on his official Twitter account, with the caption shared along with a photo of an x-ray of Warrington's jaw.
Warrington has options for his next fight. An all-British showdown with Leigh Wood has been mooted and unification fights with WBC title-holder Mark Magsayo or WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete are also on the table.
Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins explained how his team are sticking to their identity in the continued absence of talisman Ja Morant.
Grizzlies' top scorer Morant has not featured since playing in a defeat to the Atlanta Hawks earlier in March and is expected to miss much of the remainder of the regular season due to a knee problem.
However, the Grizzlies improved to 17-2 without their main man in the team as they claimed a mightily impressing 127-102 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
That means they have now won their last four games since Morant was out of the team, as they sit second in the Western Conference with a 52-23 record for the season.
"We're just sticking with our identity," Jenkins told reporters after the game, as quoted by ESPN.
"It doesn't matter if you're a starter, bench, mixed lineups. Whatever we do, we do to the best of our abilities."
A player to start on the bench, De'Anthony Melton, ultimately finished as Memphis' leading scorer on 24 points, while Desmond Bane added 20.
"I'm just trying to go out there and hoop," Melton said. "Have fun with it. Play with confidence and do what the team needs me to do."
Contributions of 19 and 16 from Dillon Brooks and Jaren Jackson Jr. respectively helped the Grizzlies fend off Milwaukee, whose attempted fightback was led by Giannis Antetokounmpo's double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds.
"They just do a lot of things that are about winning basketball," said Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer of the Grizzlies.
"Credit to their players, to the coaching staff. They just keep playing no matter who's in.
"It felt like (Antetokounmpo) tried to will us back into the game. It felt like we had some momentum for some small stretches there in the third quarter, where I felt like we might get back in it, but we weren't able to sustain it."
The Miami Heat's slide continued on Saturday, with a disappointing 110-95 home defeat against the Brooklyn Nets making it four losses on the trot.
Miami entered the week multiple games clear of the chasing pack, but after the loss against the Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers usurped the Heat as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The race for home-court advantage throughout the Eastern playoffs is far from over, as the top four teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, are only separated by a half-game.
Things were ugly early for the Heat, with its once-feared defence giving up 40 points in just the second quarter to hand the Nets a 67-46 half-time lead, which was never threatened.
Kevin Durant led a balanced offensive performance from the Nets, finishing with a team-high 23 points on seven-of-14 shooting, while seven of his teammates scored at least eight points each.
The win was Brooklyn's seventh from their past nine games, with Kyrie Irving set to make his home debut the next time out against the Charlotte Hornets.
No Morant, no problem
The Memphis Grizzlies passed another real test when the Milwaukee Bucks came to town, sending the reigning champions home with their tails between their legs after a 127-102 result.
In one of the more unlikely storylines of this season, the Grizzlies are now 17-2 in games where their best player and MVP candidate Ja Morant has not played.
Emerging franchise centrepiece Desmond Bane rose to the occasion, scoring 20 points on nine-of-19 shooting to go with five assists, while Defensive Player of the Year candidate Jaren Jackson Jr blocked two shots and snatched one steal to go with his 16 points and six rebounds.
Kings rookie continues to break out, Bulls finally beat a good team
With De'Aaron Fox missing yet again, Sacramento Kings rookie Davion Mitchell had his third consecutive game with at least 22 points and seven assists in his side's 114-110 overtime win against the Orlando Magic.
Mitchell's line of 22 points (10-of-23 from the field) with seven rebounds and nine assists comes after games of 25 points and seven assists against the Indiana Pacers, and 28 points with nine assists against the Phoenix Suns.
Meanwhile, after entering the game with a sputtering record of 3-10 in their past 13 games, the Chicago Bulls collected a much-needed 98-94 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Since February 12, Chicago have only beaten two teams who currently occupy playoff spots – the Cavaliers, and the Toronto Raptors.
Kevin Durant said his Brooklyn Nets were expecting a tough, physical performance from the Miami Heat on Saturday night, but they had all the answers in the 110-95 win.
Brooklyn used a 40-point second quarter to open up a 67-46 half-time lead, extending the margin to 37 points when Seth Curry's three-pointer made it 94-57 with 4:02 to play in the third period.
Durant scored a team-high 23 points on seven-of-14 shooting, while seven of his teammates scored at least eight points each in one of the Nets' most balanced offensive performances of the season.
Speaking at a post-game news conference, Durant said the key to playing well in Miami is being prepared to bring the physicality.
"[Miami] has been struggling lately – they'd lost their last three – so we assumed they'd come out with a lot of firepower," he said.
"They did – we were down 15-7 early – but we weathered the storm. We took their punch and were able to keep going.
"[Miami] is a physical basketball team, so if you match their physicality you can make it an even game, and we have a lot of shot-makers on our team.
"They normally blitz a lot of teams [in Miami] by just being more physical, and getting out in transition and knocking down threes, but they had to take the ball out of the basket a lot and play against a set defense."
Kevin Durant said his Brooklyn Nets were expecting a tough, physical performance from the Miami Heat on Saturday night, but they had all the answers in the 110-95 win.
Brooklyn used a 40-point second quarter to open up a 67-46 half-time lead, extending the margin to 37 points when Seth Curry's three-pointer made it 94-57 with 4:02 to play in the third period.
Durant scored a team-high 23 points on seven-of-14 shooting, while seven of his teammates scored at least eight points each in one of the Nets' most balanced offensive performances of the season.
Speaking at a post-game news conderence, Durant said the key to playing well in Miami is being prepared to bring the physicality.
"[Miami] has been struggling lately – they'd lost their last three – so we assumed they'd come out with a lot of firepower," he said.
"They did – we were down 15-7 early – but we weathered the storm. We took their punch and were able to keep going.
"[Miami] is a physical basketball team, so if you match their physicality you can make it an even game, and we have a lot of shot-makers on our team.
"They normally blitz a lot of teams [in Miami] by just being more physical, and getting out in transition and knocking down threes, but they had to take the ball out of the basket a lot and play against a set defense."
Naomi Osaka moved into the fourth round at the Miami Open without even taking the court on Saturday, getting a walkover victory as Karolina Muchova withdrew.
The former world number one claimed straights sets victories coming into Saturday and had her run eased even further, with Muchova citing abdominal injury after almost five hours on court in her opening two matches.
Muchova has been sidelined due to the injury for the last seven months, missing the US Open in 2021 as well as the Australian Open this year.
"I'm sad that I cannot put up a battle against Naomi today." Muchova tweeted. "After a long break from tennis, two tough matches in [a] row have been a lot for my body and I need longer to recover."
While Lucia Bronzetti also won in a walkover, Osaka will face Alison Riske, who defeated fellow unseeded American Ann Li 6-2 3-6 6-3.
In her third match since losing to Ash Barty in the Australian Open final, Danielle Collins defeated Vera Zvonareva 6-1 6-4 in 78 minutes.
The American world number 11 has had to deal with numerous niggling injuries this season, including a viral illness that left her with significant neck pain.
"There was obviously an emotional moment for me, the pain I'm dealing with right now with this injury," she said post-match.
"Just trying to work through that, I think is one of the hardest things we go through mentally when we're on court."
Fellow seeds Belinda Bencic and Ons Jabeur also made their way through to the fourth round, defeating Heather Watson and Kaia Kanepi respectively.
Both won with relative comfort, with Bencic winning 6-4 6-1, and Jabeur only dropping three games in the opening set to triumph 6-3 6-0.
The fairytale ending for legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is still alive after a stylish 78-69 win against Arkansas in Saturday night's Elite Eight.
Krzyzewski – affectionately known as 'Coach K' – is in his 42nd and final season in Duke's top job, and is in search of his sixth National Championship.
While his strategy and coaching style has seen Coach K earn stints as the head coach of USA's national team, he is buoyed this season by the presence of three likely first round picks in this year's NBA Draft. All three came to play on the big stage against Arkansas.
Number one pick candidate Paolo Banchero was strong, finishing with 16 points (four-of-11 shooting, seven-of-eight free throws), seven rebounds and a team-high three assists, top-10 pick A.J. Griffin scored an efficient 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting (two-of-three from long range), and late-first round center Mark Williams was a perfect six-of-six from the field to finish with 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.
Duke will play the winner of the clash between Saint Peter's and North Carolina, with the former trying to become the first 15 seed to ever make it to the Final Four.
The Miami Heat's slide continued on Saturday night, with a disappointing 110-95 home defeat against the Brooklyn Nets making it four losses on the trot.
Miami entered the week multiple games clear of the chasing pack, but after the loss against the Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers usurped the Heat as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The race for home-court advantage throughout the Eastern playoffs is far from over, as the top four teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics, are only separated by a half-game.
Things were ugly early for the Heat, with its once-feared defence giving up 40 points in just the second quarter to hand the Nets a 67-46 half-time lead, which was never threatened.
Kevin Durant led a balanced offensive performance from the Nets, finishing with a team-high 23 points on seven-of-14 shooting, while seven of his teammates scored at least eight points each.
The win was Brooklyn's seventh from their past nine games, with Kyrie Irving set to make his home debut the next time out against the Charlotte Hornets.
No Morant, no problem
The Memphis Grizzlies passed another real test when the Milwaukee Bucks came to town, sending the reigning champions home with their tails between their legs after a 127-102 result.
In one of the more unlikely storylines of this season, the Grizzlies are now 17-2 in games where their best player and MVP candidate Ja Morant has not played.
Emerging franchise centrepiece Desmond Bane rose to the occasion, scoring 20 points on nine-of-19 shooting to go with five assists, while Defensive Player of the Year candidate Jaren Jackson Jr blocked two shots and snatched one steal to go with his 16 points and six rebounds.
Kings rookie continues to break out, Bulls finally beat a good team
With De'Aaron Fox missing yet again, Sacramento Kings rookie Davion Mitchell had his third consecutive game with at least 22 points and seven assists in his side's 114-110 overtime win against the Orlando Magic.
Mitchell's line of 22 points (10-of-23 from the field) with seven rebounds and nine assists comes after games of 25 points and seven assists against the Indiana Pacers, and 28 points with nine assists against the Phoenix Suns.
Meanwhile, after entering the game with a sputtering record of 3-10 in their past 13 games, the Chicago Bulls collected a much-needed 98-94 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Since February 12, Chicago have only beaten two teams who currently occupy playoff spots – the Cavaliers, and the Toronto Raptors.
Daniil Medvedev comfortably saw off Andy Murray in their third-round match at the Miami Masters, winning 6-4 6-2 on Saturday.
Medvedev must reach the semi-finals in order to retake the top spot in the ATP rankings from Novak Djokovic in April, and he got off to a positive start in Miami, not facing a single break point in his 90-minute win.
"On the days when you serve good, your opponent doesn't have this freedom to return, it helps you," Medvedev said post-match.
"[In the] second set, the scoreline was easier, it was much tougher in the beginning, but when your opponent knows you're probably going to get some aces and it's not going to be easy for him to return, he gets pressure on his serve and many times that is what happens in close matches."
Medvedev will face Pedro Martinez, who defeated Cristian Garin 7-6 (6-2) 6-2.
Reigning Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz got his title defence off to a good start with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Arthur Rinderknech.
Following defeats for Murray and John Isner, the Polish world number 10 is the only former champion left in the draw.
A number of men's seeds were beaten in their second-round matches on Saturday, however, including Canadian duo Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.
Miomir Kecmanovic continued his good run of recent form, defeating Auger-Aliassime in straight sets 6-4 6-2, while South African Lloyd Harris beat Shapovalov 6-4 6-3.
For his third consecutive ATP 1000 match, meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas was pushed to three sets by an unseeded American.
After some entertaining hitting, with both looking to finish points early, the Greek third seed claimed four straight breaks of serve to eventually defeat Jack Wolf 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.
The Toronto Raptors' game against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday was suspended in the second quarter after a speaker hanging over the stands caught fire.
Fans were ordered to leave the Scotiabank Arena with a little over four minutes left in the first half, with the Raptors leading 66-38 at that stage.
The Toronto Fire Department attended the scene and confirmed that nobody was injured, though the arena was cleared as a precautionary measure.
After a delay of more than an hour, play resumed without any spectators in attendance. Toronto issued an apology and vowed to refund those who had purchased tickets.
Josh Warrington is open to fighting in the United States in his next bout after knocking out Kiko Martinez to become a two-time IBF featherweight champion.
Martinez survived a first-round knockdown in Saturday's clash, but came under a barrage of punches in the seventh round, forcing the referee to stop the contest.
Warrington, feeding off a partisan home crowd at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, reclaimed the same IBF crown he lost 14 months ago.
Now back at the top of his weight division after his first victory since October 2019, Warrington has a number of potential opponents in the offing.
An all-British showdown with Leigh Wood has been mooted, while unification fights with WBC title-holder Mark Magsayo or WBO champion Emanuel Navarrete are other options.
Warrington will take time to weigh up his decision, but fighting Stateside later this year is something the 31-year-old is strongly considering.
"In an ideal world I'd love to go to the States," he said in his post-fight interview. "But Leigh Wood's just become champion.
"I'd like an away day. I love it here [in Leeds]. We've been talking about going to the States for so long. There's options.
"We can go States, go the City Ground [to fight Wood in Nottingham]. I'm sure these fans will travel with me. I'll sit down with Eddie Hearn and we'll see."
Promoter Hearn only fuelled the fire regarding a possible Stateside fight for Warrington next up.
"Josh has long wanted a trip to America and it would be Ricky Hatton-esque if we could do it," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "There's mandatory as well and loads of politics.
"It looked like his career might be over, but he came back and regained the belt. He's back in control with big nights ahead."
Warrington has now headlined the First Direct Arena 11 times and, despite having the potential to sell out bigger venues, he is more than happy to stay 'home' for his next fight.
"We might not do the same numbers as the big boys – like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury – but I'd rather have an arena full of these lot than a 100,000 tourists any day," he said.
"There is no place like this in the world, never mind the country. When I'm on it and these supporters turn out, there's nothing like it in the world."
Eddie Jones' successor as England head coach will be appointed ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) targeting an Englishman for the job.
Australian boss Jones has spent six and a half years in charge of England and is under contract until after next year's showpiece event in France.
The 62-year-old had been under increasing pressure following another disappointing Six Nations showing for England, who finished with two wins from five matches.
However, the RFU this week assured Jones that his job is safe for now, though the former Japan coach was warned that nobody is "bulletproof".
Providing a further update on the position on Saturday, RFU performance director Conor O'Shea suggested a new coach could work alongside Jones at the World Cup before taking over.
"The plan for us will be to appoint that coach before summer 2023," O'Shea said. "Whether that's embedding them into the programme or taking a helicopter view, that's a discussion to be had.
"We would like to think we will be appointing them in the lead up to 2023. We have so many top English coaches who are in a great position.
"Eddie has worked with Steve [Borthwick], Neal [Hatley], Gussy [Paul Gustard]. You look across the Premiership and then you see the quality of people overseas. I want them to be English and I believe [they] should be."
He added: "The rationale is we need to appoint so we have got time to embed the new coaching team and allow them to hit the ground running. Eddie is fully aware and knows what we want to do.
"There will be some people who say that will disturb the World Cup prep because people will be looking over their shoulder.
"[Fabien] Galthie was appointed before the 2019 World Cup and it's the right thing to do because we need to get ready for the 2024 Six Nations."
The RFU's focus on a homegrown coach would rule the likes of Warren Gatland, Steve Hansen and Rassie Erasmus out of the running, but chief executive Bill Sweeney is confident the right approach is being taken.
"We believe we've got such a wealth of English coaches in the game," he said. "As a leading rugby nation we should be developing English coaches and an English style of play.
"That should be long-term and therefore the preference would be to have an English setup as far as I'm concerned.
"We've got a war room that's got every English coach you can imagine – based here and based internationally. We've got an advanced succession plan in place."
The Miami Heat were without coach Erik Spoelstra for their game with the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
Miami confirmed prior to tip-off that Spoelstra would not be in attendance at FTX Arena due to personal reasons.
Assistant coach Chris Quinn was handed the reins of the Heat, who sat top of the Eastern Conference with eight games to play.
Miami have lost their past three games, opening the door for the Philadelphia 76ers to displace them as the top seed in the closing stretch of the regular season.
The Nets sat eighth in the East and looked set to be heading for the play-in tournament.
Dustin Johnson got the best of Brooks Koepka in a heavyweight matchup to finish 2 up in their WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play quarter-final.
After Johnson got through Richard Bland and Koepka made it past Jon Rahm earlier on Saturday, the two former major champions went all 18 holes before Johnson won the last to turn 1 up into 2 up and avoid a playoff.
It was a great start for Koepka, winning two of the first three holes, but Johnson found his touch going into the seventh and went on to claim four holes and tie the rest from that point.
Scottie Scheffler passed his test against Seamus Power with flying colours, winning three and two with a strong back-nine.
Winning two holes apiece on the front nine, it was all Scheffler down the stretch, including winning the two par fives (holes 12 and 16) by two strokes to wrap things up with a couple holes to spare.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
