Lucas Herbert was "shaking" prior to sinking the winning putt on the second playoff hole against Aaron Cockerill to win the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan.
The Australian was tied with his Canadian rival at 15 under par for the tournament after the regulation holes, Herbert having missed a 20-footer for birdie at the last.
Herbert, who had travel issues and arrived late into Japan, missed his birdie attempt at the first extra hole, where Cockerill agonisingly lipped out.
He then found the trees off the tee but recovered brilliantly to make birdie and take home a third DP World Tour title.
"It's pretty special. I got pretty lucky over there on the right to get a good lie after we dropped it," Herbert said.
"Nick [caddie Nick Pugh] gave me the number and it was basically perfect. It was exactly what you'd want off that lie.
"So it was good to hit a good shot in there. And then my hand was shaking all over the place just to get the putt started on line, and to have it fall in was pretty cool."
Calum Hill was third at 14 under, one clear of fellow Scotsman Grant Forrest and home favourite Hiroshi Iwata
Iga Swiatek scooped her 13th career title with a statement victory against Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday's Stuttgart Open final.
The world number one has seen her dominance take a dip this season, with Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina emerging as serious candidates to displace her at the top of the women's game.
However, Swiatek is the queen on clay and illustrated her prowess with a 6-3 6-4 win at the tournament that rewards its champion not only with a cheque for $120,150 and trophy, but also a Porsche.
This success made Swiatek the first player to defend the Stuttgart title since Angelique Kerber's back-to-back 2015 and 2016 triumphs, and it came in her first tournament back after a rib injury.
The 21-year-old Polish player entered the title match having said she and Ons Jabeur are the tour's best players on clay, and that put her there to be shot at by Australian Open winner Sabalenka, who has climbed to second place in the rankings.
This was the first time a tour-level final has featured the top two women in the world rankings since the 2018 Australian Open final, when Simona Halep beat Caroline Wozniacki.
It was also a repeat of last year's Stuttgart final that Swiatek won comprehensively, dropping only four games, amid a 37-match winning run that would bring her a second French Open title.
The traffic was not quite so one-way this time, but Swiatek was terrific and did not drop serve once.
For Sabalenka, the outcome meant a third consecutive defeat in Stuttgart title matches, having also lost in the 2021 showpiece to Ash Barty.
After Swiatek surged through the opener, she forced a break point at the start of the second set and a Sabalenka double fault handed over the advantage.
Unforced errors were costing the Belarusian, who could not capitalise on a break point in the fourth game of the second set, going on to fling a desperate forehand wide to hand over a 3-1 lead.
Swiatek took evasive action to avoid a fierce Sabalenka smash in the next game, after initially charging towards the net, but she remained firmly in charge.
The title was secured with a ruthless love game on serve, an outmanoeuvred Sabalenka left to watch her opponent drill away a backhand into an empty court.
Reflecting on her injury lay-off, Swiatek said: "It's been such an intense time in the last couple of weeks and tough decisions sometimes, but I'm so happy we're making the right decisions."
Sabalenka, who during the week made no secret of her eagerness to win the Porsche, said: "I'll keep coming back until I get the car."
Defending Suncorp Super League champions West Coast Fever suffered their first loss of the season, going down 64-63 to the Adelaide Thunderbirds at the RAC Arena on Saturday.
Led by the league’s leading scorer Jhaniele Fowler, who scored 51 goals from 53 attempts, the Fever outscored the Thunderbirds 20-17 and 15-14 over the first two quarters, respectively, to take a 35-31 lead into the half-time break.
Fowler has now scored 331 goals this season.
However, despite winning the third quarter 15-14, the Fever were unable to hold off the Thunderbirds, who stormed back to outscore the champions 19-13 in the final stanza to snatch victory. Eleanor Cardwell led the Thunderbirds scoring with 33 goals from 34 attempts but key to their victory was that she hit eight of her 14 super shots.
Wing Defence Latanya Wilson and Goal Keeper Shamera Sterling played key roles on the defensive side with nine intercepts between them. The much-anticipated battle between Jamaican teammates Fowler and Shamera Sterling proved decisive as the Goal Keeper, who had six deflections, made it difficult for Fever to connect into the circle and suffered their first loss of the season on home court.
Chris Paul said he has "never played with this much talent" after helping the Phoenix Suns to an imposing 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in their first-round playoff series.
The Suns are among the favourites to reach the Conference Finals from the West given a stacked roster that now includes Kevin Durant alongside Paul and Devin Booker.
Paul (19 points), Durant (31 points) and Booker (30 points) all contributed in Saturday's 112-100 victory, which leaves the Suns one win away from progressing.
At 37, Paul – who spent seven years at the Clippers – has been around the block but this crop of Phoenix stars is among the best he has seen assembled.
"I've never played with this much talent," said Paul, who drained 12 of his points in the fourth quarter.
"Where people are doubling off of me. I've never seen so many open shots.
"It's something that I'm getting used to. Trying to figure out when to pick your spots, when to be aggressive. We're figuring this thing out on the fly. I'm just happy that a few of them fell tonight."
The Suns were sloppy at the start of the second half, giving up seven straight points in the opening minute, leading to Paul aiming a few choice words at the team from the bench.
"I think the way the third quarter started, I was p*****. We all was," Paul added.
"We were on the bench sort of going at each other. But it's healthy. Just trying to get us going. I tried to get myself going defensively. The shots, they're going to come."
One potential concern is a lack of depth, with Durant (45), Booker (42) and Paul (38) racking up big minutes – indeed the former two players are clocking an average of 43 minutes in the playoffs.
But Durant gave short shrift to the idea of being overworked.
"How'd I look tonight?" Durant said. "I felt great. I missed a lot of time this season.
"I want to be out there every minute. I wish I could play 48 every game."
Durant also had high praise for Clippers star Russell Westbrook, who had a game-high 37 points.
Westbrook endured a tough spell at the Clippers' rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, but Durant said he is among the best in the business.
"People going to always criticise when you're successful and doing your thing for this long. Russ has been resilient his whole life. He comes to work, doesn't say much. Just come hoop," Durant added.
"When he retires, people are going to really tell the truth about his game. Right now, the fun thing to do is to make a joke out of Russ. But the way he's been playing since he got with the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is."
LeBron James said it was not about making a statement after helping the Los Angeles Lakers take a 2-1 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies following a flashpoint with Dillon Brooks.
A raucous sell-out crowd at Crypto.com Arena roared the Lakers onto a 111-101 victory in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series.
James had 25 points, while Anthony Davis had 31 and 17 rebounds in a game where the Lakers raced into a 35-9 first-quarter lead.
The Grizzlies saw Ja Morant put up 45 points after missing one game with a sore right hand and also had Brooks ejected 17 seconds into the third quarter for a flagrant foul when he struck James in the groin.
It did not take the officials long to toss Brooks from the game, but James said the focus was merely on getting the win on the board.
"I didn't make a statement," James said. "I've been doing this too long.
"I'm not making any statements. We had the opportunity to come home and play well on our home floor, and we did that. No statement was made.
"We just wanted to play well, and we got a win. I don't need to make statements."
Brooks had been taunted by the Lakers crowd all game and head coach Darvin Ham said the vociferous home support was crucial in their efforts.
"I thought our crowd was phenomenal," Ham said. "Really felt them in the building. Thank God we gave them something to cheer about, the way we came out."
While Brooks did not address the media, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins merely said of the incident: "Officials made a call."
Morant scored 22 consecutive points for the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter, while he also had 13 assists and nine rebounds. Ultimately, though, Memphis' lowest first-quarter return in franchise history proved too big an obstacle to overcome.
"I think we won by double digits in the last three quarters, so obviously that first quarter pretty much hurt us," Morant said.
"I feel pretty good. Obviously some stuff you've just got to play through and tolerate.
"In that fourth quarter, I was just trying to win the game. Got it going pretty good, making shots, and just couldn't get it over that hump."
The Miami Heat will wait on scan results on a worrying knee injury to Victor Oladipo that soured Saturday's 121-99 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 3 of their first round series.
Oladipo went down on a drive to the bucket following a foul from Bobby Portis with 3:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, immediately clutching his left knee with an ominous look on his face.
The injury-cursed Heat guard was eventually assisted off the court by Miami's coaching staff, including head coach Erik Spoelstra, with the home court crowd cheering him out.
"We'll just have to see," Spoelstra said. "I feel like throwing up right now, but I don't know what the prognosis is. I want to stay positive on this, and we'll just see what happens."
Oladipo was restricted to only eight games in the 2021-22 season due to injury and only 33 during the 2020-21 campaign across three teams.
The injury soured a win that saw the Eastern Conference eight seed go 2-1 up with home court advantage for Game 4 against the top-seeded Bucks.
"It was a great win, but when you see a player go down like that and particularly a player like Vic, who has gone through so much in the last three years - I don't know what it is right now, so I don't want to jump the gun on anything," Spoelstra said. "But that's definitely not a good feeling to see."
The Bucks-Heat series has been riddled with injuries, with Giannis Antetokounmpo (bruised lower back) and Tyler Herro (broken hand) both unavailable for Game 3.
The Heat's injury concerns got worse with top scorer Jimmy Butler taking a hard fall in the third quarter and exiting the game with a bruised glute after 30 points in 28 minutes.
"He went back to the locker room and said, 'Hey, just give me a couple minutes, I'll be ready to go,'" Spoelstra said.
"I was going to insert him back into the game if it broke 15, but the second unit all night long gave us a tremendous boost."
The Bucks missed MVP candidate Antetokounmpo, shooting 44.7 per cent from the field and gifting 18 turnovers, while Miami scored 46 points in the paint compared to Milwaukee's 36.
"We'll continue to monitor him through the day tomorrow, through the day the next day," Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters pre-game about Antetokounmpo's status.
"He's not in a place where he can go, so we'll just continue to monitor and work with him and hope for the best."
Anthony Davis bounced back while LeBron James scored 25 points as the Los Angeles Lakers claimed a 2-1 first-round series lead with a 111-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
Ja Morant returned from a hand injury for the Grizzlies, scoring a game-high 45 points, including 22 in a row for his team in the fourth quarter at Crypto.com Arena.
But the damage was done early, as the Grizzlies shot three-of-25 in the first quarter as the Lakers raced to a 35-9 lead.
Dillon Brooks was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul early in the third quarter following a hit to James' midsection, following tension between the pair after the former's comments after Game 2.
James put that aside to score 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting with nine rebounds, while Davis scored a team-high 31 points with 17 rebounds and three blocks.
The Grizzlies scored the final 10 points of the second quarter to close to 53-37 at half-time but were not helped by Brooks' ejection with 11:43 left in the third.
The Lakers kept Memphis at arm's length for most of the game, although Morant's remarkable fourth-quarter scoring run offered hope, getting within 10 points after a three-pointer with 2:54 left.
Jaren Jackson Jr lost the battle against Davis, contributing 13 points with five rebounds while Desmond Bane was kept to 18 points on three-of-seven three-point shooting. Morant made six-of-10 three-pointers, with 13 assists and nine rebounds.
Heat upset Bucks but left with injury worries
The Miami Heat claimed a 2-1 series lead with a 121-99 victory over the Eastern Conference top seed Milwaukee Bucks who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo due to a bruised lower back again.
But the excitement for the Heat was quelled by a worrying knee injury suffered late by Victor Oladipo, while Jimmy Butler battled a sore glute.
Butler top scored for Miami with 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting in 28 minutes. Duncan Robinson, on his 29th birthday, added 20 points on five-of-six three-point shooting.
Milwaukee shot at 44.7 per cent from the field, giving up 18 turnovers. Khris Middleton top scored with 23 points and six assists but was guilty for five turnovers.
Nets swept again, Suns go 3-1 up
The Brooklyn Nets suffered a first-round series sweep for the second straight year after the Philadelphia 76ers triumphed 96-88 in Game 4 despite the absence of Joel Embiid.
Tobias Harris scored a game-high 25 points with 12 rebounds, while James Harden had 17 points on four-of-18 shooting with eight rebounds and 11 assists. Embiid was out due to sprained right knee.
Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie managed a team-high 20 points and Nic Claxton had 19 points with 12 rebounds and four blocks.
The Phoenix Suns took a 3-1 lead in their series against the Los Angeles Clippers with a 112-100 win headlined by Kevin Durant's 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and Devin Booker's 30 points.
Randy Arozarena was the hero as the Tampa Bay Rays set a major league record for scoring homers in each of their first 21 games in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Arozarena brought up the milestone with a two-run blast over left-center field in the first inning, before hitting a walkoff RBI single in the 10th.
The Rays, who started the season with 13 straight wins, improved their record to 18-3, marking the best start by any side in the majors since the New York Yankees in 2003.
Tampa Bay also broke the Seattle Mariners' 2019 record of homering in 20 straight games to start that season.
The game was in the balance after homers from Eloy Jimenez and Yasmani Grandal for the White Sox, before Arozarena singled to left for Diaz to score at the bottom of the fifth.
Gavin Sheets squared the game up with a homer to right field at the top of the eighth, before Arozarena settled the game.
Jimmy Lambert intentionally walked Wander Franco with two out and a runner on second, before Arozarena's first-pitch single to right field, driving in Vidal Brujan. Arozarena finished with four RBIs.
Shane McClanahan sent down 10 strikeouts across six innings, while White Sox starter Dylan Cease had five K's.
Garcia crushed three HRs in Rangers rout
Adolis Garcia blasted three home runs and eight RBIs in five innings as the Texas Rangers smoked the Oakland Athletics 18-3.
Garcia blasted a two-run 432-foot homer at the bottom of the first, repeating the dose in the third inning with a 419-foot bomb over center.
The Rangers outfielder made it 13-2 at the bottom of the fifth with 401-feet blast, before a two-run double in the seventh capped a remarkable showing, taking his season tally to seven homers and 28 RBIs.
Garcia went five-for-four, becoming the third player since 1901 with at least 16 total bases, three homers, eight RBIs and five runs in a single game.
Tatis homers for first time since 2021
Fernando Tatis Jr blasted his first home run since returning from an 80-game drug suspension as the San Diego Padres won 5-3 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Tatis, in his third game back since the suspension elapsed, crushed a 374-foot homer over left field for his first blast since 2021. The Padres outfielder led the majors for homers in 2021, with 42.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove earned his first win of the season, following a toe injury sustained in the weight room during spring training, striking out six, giving up three runs on seven hits.
The Winnipeg Jets have been dealt a major blow with Josh Morrissey ruled out of the rest of their Stanley Cup first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights after Saturday's 5-4 double overtime loss.
Morrissey has had a career-best season, with 76 points in 78 games while averaging a team-high 24:14 per game, but collided knee on knee with Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud after four minutes in Saturday's game.
The Jets' All-Star defenseman favoured his right leg following the incident and exited down the tunnel and did not return.
Jets coach Rick Bowness confirmed the injury after the thrilling loss where Winnipeg had rallied back from 4-1 down, only to lose in OT, with VGK opening up a 2-1 series lead.
"It was very unfortunate to lose Morrissey, he's got a lower body [injury] and he's done for the series," he said.
"We've played all year long with a lot of injuries, every team does. You have the next man up. He's a top five D in this league right now. He plays important minutes. He drives the offense so he's a big hole.
"We played the rest of the game without him. We scored four. We're going to have the play the rest of the seirs without him because this series is far from over."
Adam Lowry had tied the game with 21.9 seconds left in regulation, capping the Jets' three-goal third period comeback, after goals from Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele.
But Michael Amadio scored at 3:40 of the second overtime to earn the Golden Knights a crucial road win.
Bowness added: "That was a hell of a hockey game. The crowd was fantastic. The guys laid it all out on the line. They played their hearts out.
"We're down three going into the third and we kept fighting. There's no quitting in this group."
Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy praised his experienced side for clinching victory after letting slip their three-goal lead.
"You shouldn’t give up a lead when you have a veteran group, you should find a way to get it to the finish line," he said.
"We're also a veteran group who can put it behind us. If you've followed our team all year, we've found different ways to win."
On Morrissey's injury, Cassidy added: "Obviously that’s a heavy minute, highly productive player that they'll miss. Their depth will have to come through for them.
"It's a tough break in the playoffs to lose a guy like that but it won't change how we're going to play."
Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler retained their lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with a third-round 62 in Saturday's four-ball.
The duo carded a 10-under 62 to be 26-under overall heading into the final day, leading by one stroke from Keith Mitchell and Sung-jae Im at TPC Louisiana.
The three teams are tied for third at 23-under overall, in Vincent Norrman and Matthias Schwab, Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore, and Nick Hardy and Davis Riley.
Clark and Hossler produced a bogey-free round with 10 birdies, including three in a row to start the back nine.
Clark birdied the 18th to ensure their solo lead from Mitchell and Im, who also went without a bogey for the round with the South Korean providing six front-nine birdies.
Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick also managed a third-round 62 to be 21-under overall, tied for seventh alongside two other teams.
Reigning champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay could only manage a six-under 66 on Saturday to slip down the leaderboard at 20-under overall.
Charley Hoffman, playing alongside Nick Watney, provided a highlight with a hole-in-one on the par-three ninth hole. The duo are back at 17-under overall.
The stroke play tournament concludes with the alternate shot format on Sunday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was ruled out again for the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of Saturday's Game 3 in their NBA first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, reports said.
Battling a bruised lower back, which he suffered in the series opener, the two-time NBA MVP had to miss the second game and remains on the injured list.
The Bucks had listed Antetokounmpo as doubtful on Tuesday after an X-ray and MRI scan both came back clean, and the problem has not gone away.
The Greek forward averaged 31.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, sitting in the NBA's top five for both categories.
Without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks drew level in the seven-game series by winning 138-122 on Wednesday.
The Philadelphia 76ers will need Joel Embiid back for the Eastern Conference semi-finals, despite their Game 4 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
That is according to Tyrese Maxey, who labelled team-mate Embiid as a "leader", though the Sixers secured a 4-0 series sweep of the Nets without him on Saturday.
Embiid led the league for points per game in the regular season (33.1), but suffered a knee sprain in Game 3 against Brooklyn.
While a series comeback still seemed unlikely, the Nets had some hope on Saturday when they led by eight at half-time at Barclays Center, only for the Sixers to fight back and take the game 96-88.
Philadelphia will face either the Boston Celtics or Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semis, which the Celtics lead 2-1 ahead of Game 4 on Sunday, and Maxey hopes Embiid can be back in time.
"It starts with Joel," the Sixers guard said. "He's the leader of this team and for him, he takes the guys before the game and he told us good luck and we appreciate him for that. And we need him to get healthy."
Tobias Harris top-scored with 25 on Saturday, while James Harden had an impressive outing with 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and he echoed Maxey's comments.
"Obviously, today was big for us, so we can get [the] big fella healthy," Harden said. "That's priority number one."
Coach Doc Rivers had explained the situation with Embiid before the game, but clarified further afterwards, suggesting the Cameroonian perhaps has a "50 per cent" chance of making it for the next round.
"I just don't know," he said. "I would say, right now, it's probably the same percentage I said before the game... probably 50 per cent, at best."
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is unsure when Joel Embiid will return from injury after a knee sprain sidelined the MVP favourite for Game 4 against the Brooklyn Nets.
It was announced on Friday that Embiid had suffered the injury in Thursday's Game 3 win over the Nets – the 76ers' third straight victory in the series.
Embiid has sustained injuries during several previous postseason campaigns, including sitting out two games as the 76ers were beaten by the Miami Heat in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals.
An ESPN report suggested Embiid could return to the court as early as next week, but Rivers was unwilling to put a timeframe on the center's recovery on Saturday.
"This is another obstacle in the story that we're going to write this year, and we're going to be okay. It may take a minute, but this is just part of it," Rivers said.
"He's human, and goodness, this happens again. Let's win, let's get him back on the floor and let's keep on our own journey."
Asked whether Embiid could return during this series if Brooklyn were to force a Game 5, Rivers added: "I don't know. I can't answer that, but I'm not sure.
"From my understanding, they checked his knee out right after the game because he was complaining about some soreness behind the knee, which is always a scary thing to hear about with players.
"There was swelling already, which is way too early, so we did the MRI. As a coach, I hate that word. I hate those three letters, because it never comes out well.
"It just feels like that, whenever they tell a coach you're going to get an MRI, it doesn't turn out well most of the time, and this time it did not."
Carlos Alcaraz raced through to the Barcelona Open final as the defending champion set up a final showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
With his 20th birthday approaching on May 5, world number two Alcaraz will have the chance on Sunday to land his ninth ATP title as a teenager.
Alcaraz crushed the hopes of first-time Barcelona semi-finalist Dan Evans, racing to a 6-2 6-2 victory over a player who was seeking to become the first British finalist at this tournament.
Earlier, Tsitsipas, who had not dropped serve en route to the semi-finals, had to dig deep for a 6-4 5-7 6-3 victory against Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian who beat Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo last week.
Greek star Tsitsipas bizarrely has a 0-9 record in finals at ATP 500 level, the tier at which this tournament sits, despite having won two of his six title matches in elite ATP 1000 events.
Alcaraz will start as a firm favourite in the final. He holds a 3-0 career head-to-head lead over Tsitsipas from their past meetings, including a three-set win in the Barcelona quarter-finals last year.
That was a stormy encounter, with Alcaraz taking exception to almost being hit by a shot from Tsitsipas at the end of the opening set, so the rematch could be one to savour.
"It's so special to play a final here in Barcelona, a tournament I love playing," Alcaraz said on Prime Video. "I came to watch this tournament when I was very, very young, and I played for this club when I was 12, 11. I love this club, I love this tournament, and it's so special to have the chance to lift the trophy here again.
"Last year [against Tsitsipas] we had a spicy match, but I know he's a really nice guy off the court."
At the BMW Open in Munich, it was much the same story on Saturday.
Defending champion Holger Rune, another 19-year-old with a birthday approaching, in his case on April 29, earned another shot at the title.
Rune set up a Sunday showdown against Botic van de Zandschulp, in what will be a repeat of last year's final.
A resilient Rune lived up to his top seeding by ending Christopher O'Connell's fine run, which included a win against Alexander Zverev at the last-16 stage.
The 6-3 6-2 outcome masked the fact Rune saved eight break points as unseeded world number 82 O'Connell threatened to make it a tighter contest on the scoreboard than it turned out to be.
Van de Zandschulp then scored a fine win in the second semi-final as the Dutch fourth seed got the better of American second seed Taylor Fritz, winning 6-4 7-6 (7-2)
Last year's trophy match ended in disappointment when Van de Zandschulp retired due to chest pains during the first set, with Rune saying it was "probably the worst way to win a final".
Rune has three ATP titles to his name, with 27-year-old Van de Zandschulp yet to lift a singles trophy.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek will face Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart Open final after Ons Jabeur was forced to retire from their semi-final with a left calf injury.
World number one Swiatek was 3-0 up against Jabeur when her tearful opponent called a medical timeout and ultimately ended the contest early.
It sets up a mouthwatering showdown between top seed Swiatek and second seed Sabalenka, who defeated Anastasia Potapova in straight sets earlier on Saturday.
Jabeur, who struggled to shake off the injury sustained in the first game, said: "The third point, I don't know what happened.
"I was really excited to play Iga today – it's always a fun match between us. I wish her the best luck for the final. I'm sorry guys, I really tried to run, but Iga never makes it easy."
Sabalenka, a beaten finalist in the past two years, held her serve in the opening set against Potapova and twice broke her unseeded opponent to take the lead.
The Belarusian raced 4-0 ahead in the second set and saw out a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory in a little under an hour to reach her fourth final of the year.
"I think I was really focused, and I think from the very first point I was playing really aggressive," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. "I didn't give [Potapova] much time.
"I think that's why the match finished like that quick. But anyway, she's a great player, and I think in the future she's going to be a top player."
Swiatek defeated Sabalenka in last year's Stuttgart final 6-2 6-2 and is aiming to become the first player to defend the title since Angelique Kerber in 2016.
On the back of 46 goals out of 52 attempts from Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken-George, the New South Wales Swifts completed a remarkable fourth quarter comeback to beat the Melbourne Vixens in their Suncorp Super netball League game at the Ken Rosewall Arena in New South Wales on Saturday.
The Vixens won the first quarter 16-15 before a 15-15 tie in the second meant they entered halftime with a 31-30 lead.
The Melbourne-based outfit then produced some excellent Netball in the third quarter, winning 22-16, to enter the fourth and final stanza with a daunting 53-46 lead.
The Swifts had other plans, however, winning the final quarter 21-14 to complete a narrow 67-66 win.
British goal attack Helen Housby provided good support for Aiken-George with 12 goals from as many attempts.
Malawi’s Mwai Kumwenda tried her best for the Vixens with 47 goals from 50 attempts.
Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the Madrid Open, with the world number one struggling with an elbow injury just over a month before the start of the French Open.
The 22-time grand slam champion wore strapping on his right elbow at last week's Monte Carlo Masters, suffering a shock 6-4 5-7 4-6 defeat to Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.
Djokovic was back in action at the Srpska Open in Banja Luka this week, losing to fellow Serbian Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals, but he sparked concerns regarding his injury on the eve of that tournament.
Djokovic described his elbow as "not in an ideal condition" on Tuesday, though he added it was "good enough" for him to continue his preparations for Roland Garros.
On Saturday, however, it was confirmed Djokovic would not compete at the upcoming Masters 1000 event in Madrid, which he has won on three previous occasions.
Djokovic's absence from the clay-court event, which finishes just three weeks before the French Open begins, leaves the 35-year-old facing a battle to be fit for the second grand slam of the year.
Djokovic will not be the only big-name absentee in Madrid, with Rafael Nadal withdrawing earlier this week as he continues to struggle with an injury to his left hip.
With Nadal's chances of participating at the French Open also in the balance, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said it was "hard to imagine" the event taking place without the 14-time winner.
Both Djokovic and Nadal will be targeting a record-breaking 23rd grand slam singles title if able to compete at the French Open, which will run from May 28 to June 11.
Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder applauded Trae Young for finding his "rhythm" after a wretched run to inspire Friday's win over the Boston Celtics.
The Hawks won their Eastern Conference first-round Game 3 clash 130-122 to prevent Boston going 3-0 ahead, which would have left them needing just one more win for a series sweep.
Young had previously shot a combined of 14-of-40 (35 per cent) from the field across the first two games of the series.
But on Friday he scored a team-high 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting, adding nine assists, six rebounds, two blocks and a steal, while his All-Star backcourt teammate Dejounte Murray chipped in 25 points (11-of-21 shooting), six rebounds and five assists.
Although it was arguably the Hawks' bench who got them over the line – with Onyeka Okongwu, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson and Bogdan Bogdanovic combining to shoot 16-of-22 (72.7 per cent) from the field for 44 points – much of the post-game focus was on Young and Murray, who finally seemed to flourish together.
Young in particular has had a difficult time of it, especially in the playoffs – for Snyder, there was an element of just sitting back and letting things unfold as the two-time All-Star and Murray took matters into their own hands.
"First of all, [it was] kind of figuring out what they were thinking together playing off each other," Snyder said when asked about Young and Murray's on-court chatter.
"At one point, I was like, I should just be quiet. Usually when that's happening, as a coach, if you feel that and you respect those guys and they are communicating like that and if they're on the same page, people will play off of them. That's what happened us.
"That's when we're going to be playing our best basketball."
That certainly seemed the case on Friday, with the hard work appearing to pay off for Young.
"Those two guys, over the course of the game, not just with the other guys on the team, but with one another, were connecting and pushing one another," Snyder added.
"You could tell [Young] found a rhythm, and it was good to see that because he's been working on it. He's been watching [film] and trying to figure out how he can attack somebody.
"The message, as much as anything for him and the whole group, is just to stay aggressive and trying to make the right play.
"[Young] got a little down when he turned it over one time and he was shaking his head, and I just said, 'Let’s get to the next play.' I don't want him thinking about what just happened. Every mistake can make you better if you just process it the right way. You can tell he found his rhythm tonight."
Murray was in no doubt about it being his and Young's best performance as a duo.
"Absolutely. I don't want to talk about Boston a lot but I look at Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown] a lot, two guys who were going through it a lot, just to get to the level they're at. Great things don't happen overnight. Great things take time."
Young seemingly disagreed to an extent but acknowledged there being a timeliness to his and Murray's link-up.
"You don't want to live in the moment too much," he said. "I mean, we won a game in the playoffs, it's big, but we've had some really good games together.
"I don't consider this our best game together. It's definitely one of them, but it came at the right time and we needed it."
The Hawks can level the series with a win in Game 4 on Sunday.
The Denver Nuggets are focusing all of their efforts on completing a series sweep over the Minnesota Timberwolves after taking a 3-0 lead on Friday.
Nikola Jokic inspired Denver to a 120-111 win at Target Center in Minnesota to take a huge step towards the Western Conference semi-finals, where the Phoenix Suns or Los Angeles Clippers will await.
Reigning back-to-back MVP Jokic posted 20 points (nine-of-13), 12 assists and 11 rebounds in a comprehensive effort against three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
It was the seventh triple-double of Jokic's career and played a major role in the Nuggets opening a huge series lead, which they will now hope to turn into their first playoff sweep in franchise history.
That is certainly the aim, though coach Michael Malone accepts the Timberwolves are not going to make it easy on their return to Target Center in Game 4 on Sunday.
"Up 3-0, our mindset right now is – no disrespect to the T-Wolves because this is about us – but we don't want to go back to Denver," he said.
"We know to close out a series a lot of times can be the hardest game. I'm hoping that we can find a way.
"We don't have a mindset of, 'Hey, we can just go back and close it in Denver.' Our mindset should be to close it in Game 4."
It was put to Jokic afterwards that the Nuggets' performance was impressive in part because they did not "need to win", though this mindset clearly did not resonate with the center.
"That's a funny question. We needed to win, we didn't want to give them life, if that makes sense," Jokic said.
"We wanted to be the aggressor. We wanted to punch them first. They need to react to us. That was our plan. I think we did a good job.
"Of course, we expected them to be aggressive and play really good, they were attacking the paint, attacking, attacking. That was their plan, we kind of knew it."
Denver head into Game 4 3-0 up in a series for only the second time, with the first being the 2009 semi-finals against the Dallas Mavericks.
While they could not clinch the sweep on that occasion, they did manage to get the job done in Game 5.
Malone and Jokic will be hoping to go one better this time.
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