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
Milan Iloski's second-half goal helps Union tie Crew
May 16, 2026; Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; Columbus Crew defender Andres Herrera (2) shoots the ball against the Philadelphia Union in the second half at Subaru Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images Milan Iloski scored his fourth goal midway through the second half but the Philadelphia Union again fell short of a first home win in a 1-1 draw against the Columbus Crew on Saturday night at Chester, Pa.
Iloski’s tally canceled Hugo Picard’s 10th-minute strike from distance for the visitors.
Cavan Sullivan came closest to scoring a late winner for Philadelphia (1-9-4, 7 points), which is now 0-3-3 at home after going 12-1-4 there in 2025 en route to the Supporters’ Shield title.
Patrick Schulte made four saves to help Columbus (3-7-4, 13 points) snap a three-match losing streak, on a night the Crew were outshot 12-6 overall and 5-2 in efforts on target.
Philadelphia midfielder Jovan Lukic departed at halftime with an apparent injury, perhaps the same ailment that forced him out late in the first half of a 4-3 loss at Orlando on Wednesday night.
Picard put Columbus in front in the 10th minute.
Andre Gomes served in an outswinging free kick from beyond the right corner of the penalty area. Union center back Olwethu Makhanya got his head on it, but while retreating could only clear it back to the edge of the penalty area on the left side.
That’s where Picard controlled it with his first touch, then curled an arcing shot with his second into the top right corner beyond Andre Blake’s dive.
Iloski leveled in the 70th minute on an opportunity created by Agustin Anello.
The substitute took Ben Bender’s pass on the left, drove at defender Rudy Camacho on the dribble, then struck a low cross that rolled between Camacho’s legs and toward the top of the 6-yard box.
Iloski did the rest with a one-time finish into an open goal before Schulte could recover from his near-post position.
Sullivan had two promising late chances to finally end the Union’s home misery.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Charlotte halts 5-game winless streak, extends Toronto's to 7
May 16, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Toronto FC midfielder Alonso Coello (14) kicks the ball defended by Charlotte FC defender David Schnegg (23) during the second half at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Goals from Wilfried Zaha, David Schnegg and Pep Biel pushed Charlotte FC to a 3-1 win over visiting Toronto FC on Saturday night.
Charlotte (5-6-3, 18 points) ends its five-game winless streak. The club outshot Toronto (3-5-5, 14 points) 16-11 despite holding less possession. Toronto keeper Luka Gavran made two saves and Charlotte’s Kristijan Kahlina finished with three.
Zaha opened the scoring in the 19th minute, breaking a five-game goal drought. After joining a fastbreak, Zaha received a Kerwin Vargas cross in the box before burying his shot in the bottom left corner.
However, Toronto attacker Derrick Etienne responded with a top-class finish from 25 yards out, tying the game in the 22nd minute. After driving the ball into the middle of the pitch, Etienne rocketed a powerfully hit shot off the underside of the crossbar and past the goal line.
Debutant defender Jonathan Gilman nearly pushed Toronto past its 1-1 deadlock just five minutes after Etienne’s strike, after heading in a long free kick. However, the referee disallowed Gilman’s goal, reasoning that Jonathan Osorio had unfairly blocked Charlotte’s Idan Toklomati in the box.
Schnegg responded with another long-range effort for Charlotte. Schnegg’s low, driven shot rolled 27 yards through Toronto’s defense and past the outstretched hands of Gavran into the goal. His strike marked his first league goal for Charlotte and Vargas’ second assist of the night.
Biel scored an 83rd-minute penalty to extend Charlotte’s lead to two. The referee awarded Charlotte the penalty after Osorio got tangled up with an attacker in the box off a corner. Biel fired his penalty straight down the middle to secure his eighth goal in 13 league appearances.
Although Toronto threatened the Charlotte goal throughout the match, a second goal never came. Its defense continued to struggle, extending their 10-game streak without a clean sheet. Their road loss also extended its winless streak to seven, the longest current streak in the league.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Luca Langoni, Revolution edge Minnesota United
May 2, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Revolution forward Luca Langoni (41) looks on in the first half against Charlotte FC at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images Luca Langoni scored early in the second half and the New England Revolution held on to defeat visiting Minnesota United 2-1 on Saturday night at Foxborough, Mass.
Carles Gil posted a penalty kick for New England (8-4-1, 25 points), which improved to 7-1-0 in home games. Three of goalkeeper Matt Turner’s six saves for the Revolution came in the final 10 minutes and they all were off Minnesota headers.
Langoni, who did not play in a 3-0 home shutout loss to Nashville SC on Wednesday, has scored in consecutive matches and picked up his third goal of the season. New England has won a club-record six consecutive games at Gillette Stadium before Wednesday’s setback.
Minnesota (6-5-3, 21 points) received its goal on Kelvin Yeboah’s penalty kick. Drake Callender stopped three shots.
Langoni’s goal in the 49th minute came at the end of a transition opportunity off an assist from Dor Turgeman, who made a slight pass to Langoni. As he entered the box, Langoni unleashed a shot from the right side.
The teams traded penalty kicks in the first 30 minutes in the first meeting between the teams since 2023.
Gil converted on his chance five minutes into the game. Yeboah’s equalizer came in the 26th minute.
New England’s opportunity came because of a foul in the penalty area by Minnesota’s Michael Boxall just a couple of minutes into the game. Then a foul on New England’s Brooklyn Raines provided Yeboah’s opportunity.
–Field Level Media
Milan Iloski's second-half goal helps Union tie Crew
Charlotte halts 5-game winless streak, extends Toronto's to 7
