Sports
Casper Ruud advances to elusive title match at Italian Open
Casper Ruud smiles after a point over Carlos Alcaraz during their fourth-round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Norway’s Casper Ruud has finally earned a spot in the Italian Open finals.
After getting knocked out in the semis in 2020, 2022 and 2023, the clay court specialist overwhelmed Italy’s Luciano Darderi, 6-1, 6-1 in only 65 minutes on Friday in Rome.
But Ruud will have to wait until Saturday to learn his opponent’s identity. The second semifinal, between Italy’s No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and seventh-seeded Russian Danill Medvedev, was postponed after heavy rains would not relent.
The match was halted at a dramatic moment, with Sinner leading 6-2, 5-7, 4-2, but Medvedev holding a deuce advantage on his serve. Officials waited 75 minutes until 11:00 p.m. local time before postponing the match. It will resume on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
There was also a rain delay of an hour and 59 minutes in Ruud’s win.
Ruud, seeded 23rd, will vault back up into the Top 20 after Sunday’s finals. He will climb to No. 15 with a win or No. 17 with a setback.
Darderi, the 18th seed, was clearly feeling the effects of a grueling, three-hour quarterfinal win over Spain’s Rafael Jodar on Wednesday. He did not hold serve in three opportunities in the first set and only won 40% of his first serves in a 27-minute sprint by Ruud.
The second set was more of the same, although the Italian finally held serve on his sixth service game of the match and forced Ruud to play 24 points to win the final two games.
“It feels great,” Ruud said. “I am a bit sorry for Luciano, playing at home and not with the most energy, but it is understandable, he finished at 2:30 am the other night. What a tournament he has had and luckily for me, I was done much earlier that day and had a little more time to recover.
“It is my 10th semi-final at a 1000 and his first, so you try to use that experience to your advantage and I think I did well today.”
Ruud recorded 20 winners and made 16 unforced errors, compared to nine and 23 by Darderi. He won 29 of 48 points (60%) on his opponent’s serve.
Ruud became the sixth active player to reach the finals of all three ATP events played on clay. He competed in the 2024 finals in Monte-Carlo and the 2025 title match in Madrid, where he defeated Great Britain’s Jack Draper.
He lost Italian Open semifinals to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (2020, 2022) and Denmark’s Holger Rune (2023).
Ruud has never beaten Sinner (0-4) and is 1-3 versus Medvedev.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox blast way past Cubs
May 15, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) reacts before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Munetaka Murakami hit two home runs to lead a five-homer barrage and right-hander Davis Martin delivered six strong innings as the host Chicago White Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs 8-3 on Saturday.
The White Sox regrouped from Friday’s 10-5 loss to even the crosstown series at one game apiece while improving to 6-2 on a nine-game homestand.
Murakami, in his first major league season, highlighted the power display with his first career multi-homer game. Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery each went deep for the second straight night while Andrew Benintendi contributed his first round-tripper since April 23.
Miguel Amaya had two hits for the Cubs, including a solo homer. Pete Crow-Armstrong capped the scoring with a two-run blast in the ninth.
Vargas vaulted the White Sox to an early lead with a three-run shot in the first, jumping on a 1-1 pitch from Cubs starter Jameson Taillon.
Murakami drilled a solo shot to center with one out in the third. Montgomery followed with a solo home run two batters later.
Murakami stretched the advantage to 7-0 with a two-run blast in the fifth, his American League-leading 17th home run of the season. Benintendi chased Taillon from the game with a solo shot to open the sixth.
Martin (6-1) retired the first nine Cubs before Nico Hoerner singled to lead off the fourth. Amaya led off the sixth with a solo shot and the Cubs put two men in scoring position with one out before Martin escaped further trouble with strikeouts of Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.
Martin spaced one run and five hits in six innings with zero walks and seven strikeouts.
Taillon fell to 2-3 after allowing a career-high five homers. He yielded eight runs on eight hits in five innings with one walk and two strikeouts.
Alex Bregman and Amaya both had two hits for the Cubs, who left seven men on base.
Sam Antonacci, Murakami and Benintendi had two hits each for the White Sox.
The game was delayed 13 minutes in the bottom of the fourth after home-plate umpire Brian O’Nora took a Jarred Kelenic foul ball off the mask near his jaw. O’Nora left the game to undergo further testing. Erich Bacchus took his place behind the plate.
–Field Level Media
Sports
NYCFC, Red Bulls play to draw in Hudson River Deby
Jun 27, 2021; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; New York City FC forward Thiago Andrade (8) plays the ball against D.C. United defender Donovan Pines (23) before scoring his goal during the second half of a game between D.C. United and NYCFC at Red Bull Arena. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images In a hotly contested Hudson River Derby, host New York Red Bulls and New York City FC battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Jorge Ruvalcaba scored for the Red Bulls (5-5-4, 19 points), and Andres Perea scored on a header off a free kick by Nicolas Fernandez for New York City (5-5-4, 19 points).
In the 44th minute, Ronald Donkor played a pass wide to Davi Alexandre, whose cross drew three defenders to Julian Hall. The pass was deflected to Ruvalcaba, who cleaned up the loose ball for a 1-0 lead.
New York City leveled the match in the 52nd minute on a set piece when Perea headed Fernandez’s free kick inside the back post.
The rivalry match heated up in the 22nd minute when twin yellow cards were issued. Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and Agustin Ojeda collided while both tracking a soaring pass.
When Marshall-Rutty stood, he hovered over Ojeda, who sprang up and was shoved by the Red Bulls defender. Players from both clubs quickly gathered, and yellow cards were issued to Marshall-Rutty and Raul Gustavo after he joined the fray.
Second-half substitute Malachi Jones quickly made his presence felt, slicing a shot from the penalty area over the crossbar in the 47th minute.
Jones pressed again in the 59th minute, blasting a right-footed shot that forced Ethan Horvath into a diving save. Moments later, a long pass sent Jones into a 1-on-1 with Horvath, who punched away a sizzling shot.
Nicolas Fernandez’s free kick sailed through traffic in the 72nd minute. Horvath jumped into the mixer and was knocked down as the ball struck the post before being cleared.
The Red Bulls threatened in the 78th minute as Adri Mehmeti’s chip shot clipped the crossbar. Matt Freese handled Hall’s close-range shot in the 89th minute.
Horvath had five saves for the Red Bulls, while Freese was credited with three for NYCFC.
NYCFC veteran midfielder Maxi Moralez exited the match on a stretcher in the 35th minute with an apparent knee injury.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Padres go up early, improve to 5-0 this season against Mariners
May 16, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Gavin Sheets (30) runs to the bases after hitting a home run in the second inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Richard Dizon-Imagn Images Gavin Sheets, Nick Castellanos and rookie Rodolfo Duran homered as the San Diego Padres defeated the host Seattle Mariners 7-4 on Saturday.
The Padres improved to 5-0 against Seattle this season.
Right-hander Walker Buehler (3-2) went five innings for the victory. He allowed two runs on five hits, with two walks and six strikeouts.
Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada worked the ninth for his first save of the season.
J.P. Crawford homered for the Mariners.
The Padres opened the scoring in the top of the second as Sheets led off with a homer to right field.
With one out in the fourth, Manny Machado and Sheets drew back-to-back walks off Mariners starter Logan Gilbert, and Xander Bogaerts lined a single to left to load the bases. Miguel Andujar grounded into a forceout to third base, with Machado scoring on the play. Castellanos hit the next pitch over the wall in left-center field to make it 5-0.
The Mariners got on the board in the bottom of the inning as Josh Naylor led off with a single to right and Randy Arozarena walked. With one out, Cole Young lined a run-scoring single to right.
Crawford went deep to right with one out in the fifth, his solo shot pulling Seattle within 5-2. Despite his pitch count reaching 101, Buehler was able to get through the inning to qualify for the victory.
With two outs in the seventh, Ramon Laureano doubled to right-center and Duran followed his his first major league hit in his fourth game — a two-run shot to left — to extend San Diego’s lead to 7-2 and end Gilbert’s night.
Gilbert (2-4) allowed seven runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked two and fanned five.
The Mariners pulled within 7-4 in the eighth. Julio Rodriguez led off with a single and stole second. Naylor walked, and a double steal put runners on second and third. Rodriguez scored on Arozarena’s infield single and Naylor came home on a groundout by Young.
Rodriguez robbed Duran of a second two-run homer with a leaping catch at the wall in right-center to end the top of the ninth.
Seattle manager Dan Wilson was ejected by first-base umpire Chad Fairchild in the fourth inning for arguing a check-swing call.
Mariners third baseman Brendan Donovan and catcher Mitch Garver were both late scratches from the starting lineup. No immediate word was available for their absences.
–Field Level Media
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