World number two Carlos Alcaraz is through to the Indian Wells Open semi-final after defeating 11th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4 on Thursday.
Alcaraz, 19, continued his terrific start to 2023, now boasting 12 wins from his first 13 matches of the year after winning the Argentina Open and reaching the Rio Open final.
But despite the Spaniard's status as the game's top young talent, he came into the contest winless in his three previous meetings against Canada's Auger-Aliassime.
What separated the two this time around was Alcaraz's ability to keep the ball in play. He produced 26 winners with only eight unforced errors, and while Auger-Aliassime was not much worse (24 winners, 13 unforced errors), he committed six double faults.
He is now one match away from reaching the third Masters 1000 final of his career, having won both the Miami Open and the Madrid Open this past season.
Meeting him in the semi-final will be Italy's Jannik Sinner after he prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-4 against hometown hero Taylor Fritz.
In the seesawing contest, Sinner narrowly edged the total point count 94-86 – with both committing exactly 17 unforced errors – but the Italian created nine break point chances compared to Fritz's three.
Since the beginning of the Australian Open, Sinner sports a 14-2 record, with the only losses in that span coming against world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas and world number six Daniil Medvedev.
It will be the sixth meeting between Sinner and Alcaraz, with the Spanish teen taking in a 3-2 edge after a five-set thriller at the US Open.
Reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic prioritised his scoring to help the Denver Nuggets snap their four-game losing streak on Thursday.
Jokic posted a game-high 30 points to go with 10 rebounds and nine assists as his Nuggets came back from an early deficit to defeat the Detroit Pistons 119-100 on the road.
Denver trailed by six at half-time, but went on to outscore the Pistons 61-36 the rest of the way, and Jokic was leaving nothing to chance.
Between December 30 and March 10, Jokic had only one game where he made at least 14 field goals. He has now reached that figure in three of his past four outings, and over that span he has put up averages of 32.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.5 assists to try and shake the Nuggets out of their mini-slump.
A big reason for their recent dip in form has been the play of second-star Jamal Murray, who came into the contest after shooting 19-of-58 (32.8 per cent) over his past three. He was not at his scoring best against the Pistons, but he was a worthy contributor, chipping in 19 points (seven-of-15 shooting) with 10 assists and six rebounds.
On the other side, it was an eye-opening performance off the bench from rookie Jalen Duren, piling up 15 points (seven-of-10 shooting), 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals in his 27 minutes.
The victory improves Denver's Western Conference-leading record to 47-23, while the 16-55 Pistons own the league's worst record and the best odds at landing the number one draft pick.
Sabonis shines as Kings remain one of the league's hottest teams
Domantas Sabonis was the star of the show as his Sacramento Kings fought off the gritty Brooklyn Nets for a 101-96 road win.
No team in the NBA has a better record over their past 10 games than the Kings' 8-2 mark, and they were propelled Thursday by Sabonis' 24 points (eight-of-14 shooting), 21 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. In doing so, Sabonis broke Otis Thorpe's franchise record (1987-88 season) for the most rebounds in a single regular season (837).
Sacramento will be anxiously awaiting further news on starting wing Kevin Huerter after he left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, but they have plenty of wiggle room after taking sole possession of the West's second seed.
At 42-27, the Kings are 4.5 games behind the Nuggets, and 5.5 games clear of the play-in tournament placings.
Bucks defense goes missing in Pacers upset
One of the best defenses in the league had no answers for the Indiana Pacers as the Milwaukee Bucks fell in a surprising 139-123 upset.
The Bucks looked on course to add to their league-best 50 wins after piling on 40 points in the first quarter, but they undid all their good work by allowing the Pacers to score 84 in the second half.
Eight Pacers scored double-figures, led by Andrew Nembhard's 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting, while the highlight of the game came from Myles Turner's posterising dunk over Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Milwaukee (50-20) sit two games clear atop the East, with the Boston Celtics (48-22) their closest competitor in the race for the league's best record.
It turns out that top cornerback Darius Slay is staying with the Philadelphia Eagles, after all.
Slay and the Eagles have agreed to a two-year contract extension worth a total of $42million, NFL Network reported Thursday. The deal will guarantee Slay $23m upon signing.
Keeping Slay is a major victory for the reigning NFC champions, especially after all signs had been pointing to his departure.
Last week, the Eagles gave Slay permission to seek a trade, although the five-time Pro Bowler publicly denied asking for it.
With potential trade talks stalled, NFL Network reported on Wednesday that the Eagles planned to release the 32-year-old.
On Wednesday morning, Slay tweeted, "Nothing but love Philly!! Lets see where we heading next.."
A mere 24 hours later, Slay was signed through the 2025 season. He announced his new decision on Twitter: "Back like I never left!!! Run it back."
Earlier this week, the Eagles re-signed fellow cornerback James Bradbury to a three-year, $38m contract as Philadelphia looks to keep together a core that was 14-3 last season and came up just short of a Super Bowl title.
Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox remain free agents from a defense that held opposing quarterbacks to an 81.6 passer rating, the lowest in the NFC.
A second-round draft pick in 2013, Slay played his first seven NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions before being traded to the Eagles.
In 151 career games, Slay has 26 interceptions and 133 passes defended.
Ryan Brehm produced the highlight from Thursday's opening round at the Valspar Championship as he drained a late hole-in-one to earn a share of the lead at five under.
Brehm, who collected the only PGA Tour win of his career last season at the Puerto Rico Open, was at three under when he stepped up to the par-three 17th. With one shot on the 196-yard hole he jumped up the leaderboard, securing a par on the 18th to put the finishing touches on a 66.
He is joined at five under by fellow American Adam Schenk and Germany's Stephan Jaeger after a successful first trip around Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course.
Just one stroke back in a tie for fourth is Jordan Spieth, coming off three top-20 finishes from his past four starts. The world number 14 and three-time major champion went bogey-free with four birdies, and he is joined at four under by Maverick McNealy and Lucas Glover.
The only other player in the top 10 to finish without a bogey was South Korea's An Byeong-hun, posting a three-under 68 to sit in a five-player group tied for seventh, which also includes Tommy Fleetwood.
Top-20 talents Justin Thomas and Sam Burns headline the logjam at two under, while it was a miserable day for Matt Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick posted a nine on the par-four third hole after finding the water twice, and then went on to also bogey the fourth and fifth. However, he went three under across his next 13 holes to finish at three over and leave himself a chance of making the cut.
Top seed Iga Swiatek had little trouble navigating the challenge of Sorana Cirstea in Thursday's Indian Wells Open quarter-final, cruising to a 6-2 6-3 victory.
The world number one started brilliantly by breaking the unseeded Romanian's serve on her first opportunity, and despite Cirstea responding, Swiatek rattled off the final four games of the opening set.
The 21-year-old Polish phenom would not stop there as she continued on a streak of eight consecutive games to jump ahead 4-0 in the second set, finishing the job in 83 minutes.
It is Swiatek's third consecutive tournament where she has made it to at least the semi-finals, having won the Qatar Open and reached the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
The last time she did not reach the semi-final in a tournament was in January's Australian Open, when she was sent packing in the fourth round by Elena Rybakina.
She will get a chance to avenge that defeat in the semi-final after Rybakina set up the rematch by getting the better of Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-4.
Rybakina, who became the first Kazakhstan-born player to reach the semi-final of a WTA1000 event since 2009, had a much more competitive affair.
In the razor-thin battle, both Rybakina and Muchova won exactly 106 out of 212 points, but the reigning Wimbledon champion and Australian Open finalist produced 14 break point opportunities to the Czech's six.
It will be the fourth overall meeting between Swiatek and Rybakina, and after the Pole took their first clash, Rybakina responded with back-to-back straight-sets victories.
The winner will earn a spot in the final, where they will meet the victor of Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka.
The Atlanta Hawks and swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic have agreed to a four-year, $68million contract extension.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that Bogdanovic declined his $18m player option for next season and replaced it with the long-term deal that pays him through the 2026-27 season.
Playing primarily as a sixth man, Bogdanovic is averaging 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 43 games this season while shooting 40.1 per cent from three-point range.
Bogdanovic missed the first 22 games of this season while recovering from a right knee injury but has since resumed his role as the top scoring option off the bench for the 34-35 Hawks.
The 30-year-old Serbia native played his first three NBA seasons with the Sacramento Kings before joining the Hawks as a restricted free agent in 2020.
Over 359 career NBA games (156 starts), Bogdanovic has scored 14.2 points per game while shooting 43.9 per cent from the field and 38.6 per cent from beyond the arc.
Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan have been passed fit to start Ireland's Grand Slam decider against England at the Aviva Stadium on the final weekend of Six Nations action.
The pair were two of five Ireland players to sustain injuries in last week's 22-7 victory over Scotland, which made it four wins from four for Ireland in this year's tournament.
While Garry Ringrose and Iain Henderson had already been ruled out for Saturday's meeting with England, Doris and Sheehan have been named in Andy Farrell's starting line-up.
Centre Robbie Henshaw and lock Ryan Baird come in for Ringrose and Henderson, while Jamison Gibson-Park takes over from Conor Murray as Farrell makes three changes.
Johnny Sexton starts his final Six Nations game ahead of retiring later this year, and the Irish captain needs one point to become the competition's outright all-time leading scorer.
Ireland will clinch a third Grand Slam in the Six Nations era – the others coming in 2009 and 2018 – and their fifth title overall if they defeat England in Dublin on Saturday.
Fourth-place England are looking to respond from a record home loss against France last time out and have made four changes to their starting XV.
Wing Henry Arundell is set to make his first start while Owen Farrell, the son of Ireland's coach, has been recalled at fly-half in place of the benched Marcus Smith.
Manu Tuilagi is also given a first start under Steve Borthwick in place of the injured Ollie Lawrence, and David Ribbans is brought in for Ollie Chessum in the other alteration.
Dan Cole is among England's replacements and will make his 100th Test appearance should he feature, making him just the fourth player to do so for the Red Rose.
England have lost their past two games against Ireland, conceding 32 points on both occasions, and have lost 13 of the past 23 encounters in the tournament.
Ireland XV: Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (c), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Ryan Baird, James Ryan, Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, Tom O'Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Ross Byrne, Jimmy O'Brien.
England XV: Freddie Steward, Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Many Tuilagi, Henry Arundell, Owen Farrell (c), Jack van Poortvliet; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, David Ribbans, Lewis Ludlam, Jack Willis, Alex Dombrandt.
Replacements: Jack Walker, Mako Vunipola, Dan Cole, Ben Curry, Nick Isiekwe, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Joe Marchant.
Max Verstappen will arrive late to Saudi Arabia due to illness and missed pre-weekend media duties on Thursday.
The back-to-back Formula One world champion took to social media to confirm he had been battling a stomach bug and will not arrive in Jeddah until Friday.
"Feeling fine again, after not being fit for a few days because of a stomach bug," he wrote on Twitter.
"Therefore, I unfortunately had to postpone my flight for a day, so I won't be on the track until Friday. See you in Jeddah!"
Red Bull later issued a statement confirming that the FIA granted permission for the Dutchman to miss Thursday's pre-race media duties.
Verstappen tops the early championship standings after victory in the opening race of the season in Bahrain last time out, finishing ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton has no desire to leave Mercedes but urged the team to make "bold decisions" to close the gap upon their Formula One rivals.
Having won the Constructors' Championship for eight consecutive seasons from 2014, Mercedes conceded their crown to Red Bull last year.
Hopes of reclaiming that honour in 2023 already seem to be dead in the water after just one race, with Mercedes adrift of Red Bull and Ferrari, while also falling behind Aston Martin.
Those disappointments have led to speculation regarding Hamilton's future, with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, and post-race comments in Bahrain added fuel to the fire – having told Mercedes to "own up" to their mistakes.
Hamilton has since admitted his words were not chosen wisely and, speaking ahead of Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he expressed his commitment to Mercedes.
"In hindsight, it wasn't necessarily the best choice of words. Of course there are times when you're not in agreement with certain team members but what's important is we continue to communicate, we continue to work together," he told a press conference.
"I still have 100 per cent belief in this team. It is my family and I've been here a long time, so I don't plan on going anywhere else.
"But we all need a kick, we all need to get in. The proof is in the pudding; we've seen what the performance is and how people are extracting the performance. We've got to now start making some bold decisions, some big moves in order to close the gap to these guys.
"[Red Bull] will run away with it, most likely, this year, unless Ferrari can stop them, which we'll wait and see. But as I said, we're hopeful we'll be able to close the gap, but at that point it will probably be too late in terms of fighting for a championship, but we can still turn some heads."
Hamilton likened Mercedes' position to the one they found themselves in last year and, having seen the team improve slowly throughout that campaign, is optimistic of a similar response.
"We're in a similar mentality to what we were last year, where we're just working as hard as we can as a team, try to remain positive. Obviously it's a shock when you work out the car is not where you want it to be," he added.
"But everyone is working on the solution and I have 100 per cent confidence in everyone doing their job. You don't all of a sudden lose the ability to build great cars. We're just not where we need to be, where we want to be, and we have to keep working on it.
Jalen Carter has avoided jail after pleading no contest to misdemeanour driving offences relating to a crash that killed a Georgia teammate and a football staff member.
The defensive lineman, one of the most highly rated prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft, was charged with reckless driving and racing after an investigation, with arrest warrants leading to his early departure from the NFL Combine.
He returned to Georgia after the arrest warrants were issued, and his attorney announced on Thursday that Carter had pleaded no contest to the charges.
Carter was sentenced to 12 months' probation, a $1,000 fine and 80 hours of community service, as well as being ordered to complete a defensive driving course.
Chandler LeCroy, who worked in recruitment for the Bulldogs, died along with offensive lineman Devin Willock in the January 15 crash when the car they were travelling in left the road and hit nearby power poles and trees.
Carter's attorney, Kim T. Stephens, issued a statement that detailed the punishment imposed on Carter.
Stephens also addressed a number of claims regarding the incident and said the state was forever barred for bringing any additional charges against Carter regarding the crash.
"The investigation, the warrants taken for misdemeanour traffic charges, and the accusation filed against Mr Carter in the Athens-Clarke County Municipal Court demonstrate some key facts that should debunk false information that spread online and in the media after Mr Carter's arrest," the statement read.
"First, Jalen Carter's actions on January 15, 2023, did not cause the tragic accident involving Chandler Lecroy, Devin Willock, Victoria Bowlers and Warren McClendon. If the investigation had determined otherwise, Mr Carter would have been charged with far more serious offences of vehicular homicide and serious injury by vehicle under Georgia law, both felony offences, and would have faced a lengthy prison sentence.
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is confident his side can cope without injured backs Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg against Italy this weekend.
Townsend's side welcome bottom team Italy to Murrayfield on Saturday in their concluding fixture of a mixed 2023 Six Nations campaign.
After kicking off with back-to-back wins for the first time in their tournament history, Scotland have since tasted defeat to strong France and Ireland sides.
Townsend has made four changes from last weekend's 22-7 loss to Ireland, with Ollie Smith and Blair Kinghorn set to start in place of Russell and Hogg.
Richie Gray is replaced by Sam Skinner at lock and openside flanker Hamish Watson is in for the benched Matt Fagerson.
Asked if his back-line can step up in the absence of two key men, Townsend said: "Absolutely. We had a similar situation in the summer when players stepped up in attacking roles.
"They also stepped up in general play and in terms of our defence. We've got that experience when going up against a top team, and that's what we're going up against this week."
Scotland have not started without either Russell or Hogg in a home Six Nations game since the opening match of the 2012 edition against England.
Townsend's men are third heading into the final round of games, nine points better off than Italy, who require a win to have any hope of avoiding an eighth straight wooden spoon.
Kieran Crowley has also made four changes from last week's 29-17 home loss to Wales, with 21-year-old Zebre winger Simone Gesi in line for his debut.
Alessandro Fusco makes his first start of the year at scrum-half, while Edoardo Iachizzi and Marco Riccioni also return
"We were disappointed with the performance against Wales," Crowley said. "We addressed that in the week and are looking forward to Saturday's match against a very good side."
Teams:
Scotland: Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Blair Kinghorn, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Sam Skinner, Jonny Gray, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, WP Nel, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Ali Price, Ben Healy, Cameron Redpath.
Italy: Tommaso Allan, Pierre Bruno, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Simone Gesi, Paolo Garbisi, Alessandro Fusco; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni, Edoardo Iachizzi, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Marco Manfredi, Federico Zani, Pietro Ceccarelli, Niccolo Cannone, Giovanni Pettinelli, Manuel Zuliani, Alessandro Garbisi, Luca Morisi.
Tennis will never see a "big three" with the quality of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer again, believes Juan Martin del Potro.
The trio, who have combined for a total of 64 men's singles grand slam titles across a near-two-decade-long period of dominance, have come to define the sport's modern era.
Federer retired last year and while Nadal and Djokovic continue, both are well into the twilight of their careers, despite astonished continued success.
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, also retired in 2022, and he thinks the trio's dominance is unlikely to be replicated going forward, even though he sees Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune as three players who could possibly go on to enjoy great success.
"The only thing I lacked was being number one [in the ATP Rankings]," he said. "It was always a dream, and I always worked for it. I never made it because there was either Federer, or Nadal, or Djokovic.
"When I look at the rankings and the years of my career and who was fighting to be number one I see that it was beautiful that these were the ones who didn't let me make it, this dream."
"One day, the big three will end. We have Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner [and] Holger Rune, other young people who will mark the circuit.
"But for me, [for] many years, [it was] the big three. There will not be anything similar."
Del Potro reached a career high-mark of third in the ATP Rankings in 2018, with Andy Murray the only man other than Nadal, Federer or Djokovic to top the charts between 2005 and 2021.
Maria Sakkari prioritised a pedicure after earning a shot at Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells Open semi-finals.
Thursday was to be a recovery and re-setting day for Greek Sakkari, one of the stars of the Netflix 'Break Point' series, who is through to her third semi-final of the year.
She booked a last-four spot thanks to a stunning fightback from a set and a break down to Petra Kvitova, but Sakkari's efforts this week in California have left her with bleeding toes.
It is hardly surprising, considering she has taken a long route through to the semi-finals, reeling off four consecutive three-set wins.
Sakkari has lost the first set in three of those four matches but found a way to battle back, but she will want to start strongly against a dialled-in Sabalenka.
After coming through 4-6 7-5 6-1 against Kvitova, Sakkari said in an on-court interview: "I need a pedicure because my feet are bleeding so badly."
Asked about that comment later, she said in a press conference: "It's just my nails. It's not ideal, but nothing bad, like I can properly play and run and everything, but it's not nice."
It sounds far from pleasant, yet Sakkari fights on, aware that despite not playing her top-level tennis so far this fortnight, resilience has pulled her through.
"It is strange, but at the same time, I'm just telling myself, look, you're not playing your best tennis and you're still winning and beating amazing players," Sakkari said.
"By just surviving and just finding ways, eventually I'm sure that my game is going to get better. I really want to see how it's gonna be when I will start feeling good with my game.
"But of course I don't want to say that like I was playing s*** and I won. That's not the case. That's also very bad for the opponent."
Considering Kvitova is a two-time Wimbledon champion and a 29-time singles title winner on tour, Sakkari ranked Wednesday's win as one to log alongside her finest victories.
"For me coming back against her, now that she's playing good, now that she has beaten so many good players, it's a bloody good win," Sakkari said. "The fact I found a way was one of the best comebacks of my life."
Sakkari trails 4-3 in the career head-to-head against Sabalenka despite winning their last two encounters, both at the WTA Finals in each of the past two seasons.
They have not faced each other since Sabalenka became a first-time grand slam champion in Melbourne at the start of the year.
Sakkari was runner-up at Indian Wells 12 months ago, losing to Iga Swiatek in the final, and she has designs on beating Sabalenka to earn another crack at the title match.
Asked about the Belarusian, Sakkari said: "She's an amazing player. I knew that she was gonna win a grand slam. It actually came, and I was very happy for her.
"She's very fun to be around. It's going to be very, very tough, because she's feeling the ball really well."
France will welcome Uini Atonio back from suspension for the final game of their Six Nations campaign against Wales, who have made six changes for their trip to the Stade de France.
Atonio was given a three-week ban following a high tackle on Ireland hooker Rob Herring in last month's 32-19 defeat in Dublin – the only loss of France's campaign.
That reverse in Ireland means France have only a slim chance of defending their title on Saturday, as they need to post a bonus-point win over Wales before hoping England can upset Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
Coach Fabien Galthie described Atonio – who will win his 50th cap against Wales – as an "indisputable starter" after bringing him in for Dorian Aldegheri, who has a groin injury.
Meanwhile, Romain Taofifenua will replace injured lock Paul Willemse in the hosts' only other change from their crushing 53-10 win over England at Twickenham last week.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has made six changes ahead of the game, in which Taulupe Faletau will win his 100th cap.
Fly-half Dan Biggar, centres George North and Nick Tompkins and lock Alun Wyn Jones are among those recalled after last week's win over Italy in Rome.
Louis Rees-Zammit and Aaron Wainwright have also been brought in, with Jac Morgan and injured full-back Liam Williams among those to make way.
"I think France last weekend put in probably one of the best performances I've seen in a long, long time," Gatland said.
"They're the number two team in the world. They bring a really physical approach to the way they play and they've tended to start well.
"We've got to go out there and start well, make sure we're in that arm wrestle with them and give ourselves that opportunity."
Teams:
France: Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Gael Fickou, Jonathan Danty, Ethan Dumortier, Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Uini Atonio, Thibaut Flament, Romain Taofifenua, Francois Cros, Charles Ollivon, Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: Peato Mauvaka, Reda Wardi, Sipili Falatea, Bastien Chalureau, Seckou Macalou, Maxime Lucu, Yoram Moefana, Melvyn Jaminet.
Wales: Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams, George North, Nick Tompkins, Rio Dyer, Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Aaron Wainwright, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Bradley Roberts, Gareth Thomas, Dillon Lewis, Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Tomos Williams, Owen Williams, Leigh Halfpenny.
Joe Joyce is ready to step in and face either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk if the pair cannot settle on the terms of their heavyweight unification bout.
Fury, the WBC title-holder, and Usyk, who possesses the WBO, WBA (Super) and IBF crowns, have been seeking to agree terms for a fight on April 29.
Negotiations have stalled on multiple occasions however, while the pair have sparred verbally throughout, though it appears Fury will now take a 70-30 purse split.
WBO interim heavyweight champion Joyce, who is arguably the strongest mandatory challenger to either man, would be happy to square off if a deal falls through, though he would prefer to face an ultimate winner.
"It's [been] kind of dragging on a bit," he told Sky Sports' Toe2Toe podcast. "Fury's got 70 per cent [so] I guess it's happening now.
"He's started camp, [and] I would imagine Usyk's already in camp. Maybe he knows something we don't. Possibly, [I could fight one of them]. I guess it's a good back-up plan."
Reiterating he would prefer to wait though, the Briton added: "That would be something, wouldn't it? There's been a lot of rematch clauses of late. They drag on, don't they?
"It's quite refreshing to hear that there isn't one for this fight. I can jump in afterwards [and] fight the winner. I'm confident in my abilities and I think it would be a great fight against either of them."
On a preferred opponent, Joyce admitted an all-British clash thrilled him, adding: "I really like the sound of the Fury fight. Can you imagine? Undisputed has a nice ring to it."
Celebrations for Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic turned sour when pitcher Edwin Diaz hurt his knee after their victory against the Dominican Republic.
The New York Mets closer – widely considered to be the best in the game – eliminated the favourites for the competition as he struck out Teoscar Hernandez to complete a 5-2 victory.
In the ensuing celebrations, the players were jumping in a huddle before stopping once it became apparent that Diaz was injured.
His brother, Cincinnati Reds reliever Alexis Diaz, was in tears as medics attended to him, helping the 28-year-old from the field.
According to ESPN, the 28-year-old will undergo an MRI on Thursday, with sources fearing "the injury could keep Díaz out for a significant period".
"I didn't see it right away," Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina said. "I was hugging our coaches in the dugout, and when we looked up, Edwin was on the ground.
"I didn't know. I didn't know how to act, I didn't know what to say. It caught me by surprise. It sucks. When you see a guy that works so hard like Edwin, when you see him on the ground like that, it's just sad."
Center fielder Enrique Hernandez added: "It wasn't pretty much until we got to the infield dirt that we realised something had gone wrong.
"At the moment we didn't know who it was. When we got there, that's when we realised who it was. Obviously, aside from being the best closer in the game right now, and being a huge part of this team, [Diaz] is one of the glue guys in that clubhouse."
Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff was not happy with the decision to allow Joel Embiid to stay on the court as the man widely tipped to win this season's NBA MVP award led the Philadelphia 76ers to their sixth-straight victory.
Embiid ended the night with 36 points and 18 rebounds as the Sixers won 118-109, but the controversy arrived in the fourth-quarter when he appeared to have committed his sixth foul of the game.
With just over four minutes remaining, Embiid was called for charging Evan Mobley, but Sixers coach Doc Rivers challenged the call, seeing it successfully overturned on review.
"It's clear as day that's a charge," Bickerstaff said after the game. "There's no doubt about it. The call was made on the floor.
"He stands between him and the basket. Evan laid it all out on the line. Guys ought to be rewarded for that. If you stick your nose in there and sacrifice your body, you should be rewarded for the correct play."
He added: "They said there wasn't enough contact to be a charge. I mean, there's a 300-pound man who bowls through your chest, it's a charge. It's that simple."
Rivers still believed the overturn was the right call after his team secured the win, saying he thought Mobley had gone down too easily.
"I thought he flopped," Rivers said of Mobley. "I called that one right away. I didn't even look at my [replay] guy. I thought there was a good chance they would overturn it. I didn't think they would foul Joel out on that."
Embiid agreed, saying: "I thought it was a good call [to overturn]. I never extended my arm. Right before the hit, you could see he was already starting to flop.
"I watch basketball every day and I was pretty confident they would call it the other way."
The Sixers (46-22) remain third in the Eastern Conference, one spot ahead of the Cavs (44-28).
Steve Kerr praised Stephen Curry's ability to "put on a great show every night" as he recorded 50 points despite the Golden State Warriors losing on the road again at the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kawhi Leonard top-scored for the hosts with 30, but had far more help from his teammates as they ran out 134-126 victors at the Crypto.com Arena.
Curry did his best as he sank 20 of 28 field-goal attempts and eight of 14 three-point shots, but no other Golden State player was able to score more than the 19 managed by Jordan Poole.
While disappointed with yet another road defeat, coach Kerr was left in awe at Curry's performance.
"It's like when a guy's throwing a no-hitter, just leave him alone," Kerr said after the loss. "Let him sit in the dugout in between innings and don't say anything to him.
"It was stunning watching that show. Watching some of the shot-making, the playmaking. We're so lucky on so many levels to coach Steph, to play with Steph.
"Our fans, being able to watch Steph, he puts on a great show every night. But this ranks right up there with some of the greatest individual performances that I've ever seen from him."
It meant that Curry became the first player in NBA history to score 50+ points, make eight or more threes and shoot 70 per cent from the field while being on the losing team in regulation.
Draymond Green, who scored eight points with eight rebounds and five assists, was left frustrated that he and his teammates could not provide Curry with more assistance.
The Warriors suffered their 27th defeat on the road out of 34 games for the season, the most by a defending champion in the league's history.
"It sucks," Green said. "You just sit and think about what more could I have done to help him?
"When you get a guy going off like that, you need to find a way to capitalise on it. We didn't do that.
"There is always frustration after a loss. Yeah, I think we did play better, but at the end of the day, you've got to come out with a win. You've got to figure out a way to win."
Golden State (36-34) are sixth in the Western Conference, one place behind the Clippers (37-33), who have won four games in a row.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was not happy with the application of his team in their 114-110 defeat at the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
Going up against the team bottom of the Western Conference and on a run of four wins from their previous five, the Lakers had been hoping to give their playoff hunt another boost in Houston.
However, with a depleted side, they were unable to do so, allowing seven Rockets players to end the game with double figures at Toyota Center.
"We've talked about it and I've said it before games, after games, non-game days: energy, effort and urgency," Ham said after the loss. "And I thought coming out of the gates that kind of was non-existent.
"It's a product of us not being good on the ball. That individual pride it takes to keep the ball in front and guys behind you knowing that the paint is the priority. This team lives in the paint. The Houston Rockets live in the paint... And we preached that to them before the game."
The Lakers were without LeBron James (foot), Anthony Davis (foot) and Mo Bamba (ankle), with recent recruit from the Washington Wizards Rui Hachimura starting.
Ham was mostly critical of his defense, saying: "When you struggle defensively and you're playing against a set defense, the offense is going to struggle. You're not going to be able to be in a good rhythm."
He added: "I mean, it's the NBA. If you're not cut out for this, you're in the wrong business. I love it, personally. Would I rather have a sound and secure spot in the postseason? Yeah. Who wouldn't? But our circumstances are what they are."
The Lakers sit 10th in the Western Conference, just inside the play-in places on 34-36.
D'Angelo Russell, who scored 18 points with seven assists, pointed to the lack of star power available to them, recalling the days of Kobe Bryant.
"I mean, I'm not going to go against [the] coach. He obviously sees that as well. I agree," Russell said. "But when LeBron is playing, we're a different offensive team. When [Davis] is playing, we're a different offensive team. I compare it to with Kobe [Bryant].
"He was on his way out and he didn't practice a lot and we had a practice group in there at practice and ran the plays and did all that. But when Kobe would play, everything we practiced on kind of went down the drain. We kind of had to adjust. So, it's similar to that."
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