Novak Djokovic lamented his dismal showing as Alejandro Tabilo profited from the world number one's "completely off" performance to triumph at the Italian Open.

Tabilo stunned Djokovic with a straight-sets victory in the third round on Sunday, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.

The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023, with Djokovic unable to explain his struggles in Rome.

"I just wasn't able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, striking the ball. I was completely off," he said.

A six-time champion in Rome, the 36-year-old won his opening-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Corentin Moutet.

However, Djokovic was inadvertently hit on the head by a falling water bottle when leaving the court after that victory.

Whether that incident impacted his performance against Tabilo remains to be seen.

"I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that," he said. "Training was different. I was going for [a] kind of easy training yesterday.

"I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance.

"Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on."

Tabilo's next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4, while Djokovic is made to wait for his 1100th match win.

Novak Djokovic is out of the Italian Open after a straight-sets defeat by Alejandro Tabilo in the third round on Sunday.

Tabilo recorded the biggest win of his career with a dominant performance, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.

Djokovic, who was hit on the head by a water bottle following his second-round win over Corentin Moutet, struggled to get going as he saw his serve broken four times.

Tabilo clinched the opening set in style, making few errors, and Djokovic failed to mount a comeback in the second, with double faults costing him at key moments, including one on the final break serve.

The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023. His next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4. 

Data Debrief: Big winner

Tabilo is the second player from Chile to defeat the World No.1 in ATP-1000 events after Fernando Gonzalez, who defeated Lleyton Hewitt at the Hamburg Masters in 2003, since the introduction of the format in 1990.

He is also the first Chilean to defeat a World No. 1 since Fernando Gonzalez beat Roger Federer at the 2007 Nitto ATP Finals Round Robin.

Djokovic, meanwhile, is made to wait for his 1100th match win.

Aryna Sabalenka dominated Dayana Yastremska to reach the fourth round of the Italian Open on Sunday.

Sabalenka, who claimed Australian Open glory for the second time earlier this year without dropping a set, eased to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Yastremska.

Yastremska headed into the third-round contest having beaten Sabalenka in all three of their previous meetings, but the world number two found a crucial break of serve in the seventh game of the opening set before going on to hold twice more to take the ascendancy.

Yastremska's resolve was broken further in an epic third game of the second set, surviving six break points before Sabalenka finally got over the line to tighten her grip on the match.

Sabalenka didn't look back from there, breaking Yastremska again before going on to seal her place in the fourth round.

Sabalenka will take on either Sara Errani or Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round as she looks to win the Italian Open for the first time ahead of the French Open later this month, where she will bid to improve on her semi-final appearance last year.

Data debrief

Since 2018, when Sabalenka achieved her first WTA 1000 win, she is now the player with the joint-most wins in such events (90, equalling Iga Swiatek).

Sabalenka may have lost her three previous games against Yastremska, but the last meeting between the pair was in 2020, and the two-time grand slam champion showed how much her game has progressed since then as she won all nine of her service games while breaking her Ukrainian opponent three times on her way to victory.

Jaylen Brown praised the Boston Celtics for proving to themselves they are "not here to play around" in their 106-93 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3.

The Celtics' win on Saturday edged them into a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals after losing Game 2 with a defensive performance Brown described as "unacceptable".

At Cleveland, they bounced back - Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 12 rebounds, while Brown added 28 points as the Celtics avoided a second consecutive defeat.

"I think we just need everybody to be on the same page and everybody to come out with the right effort," Brown said.

"That's 85% of the battle right there. We come out, we play hard, and then we're on the same page and the rest will take care of itself. We got enough talent in the locker room to beat teams.

"But if we're not on the same page, and we're not playing hard, those are when we get ourselves in trouble. So making sure, before the game at film and shootaround, talking to everybody, touching everybody, letting everybody know that 'Hey, we're not here to play around.'

"We didn't come to Cleveland for the weather, so let's go.

"It's the playoffs. Anything can happen, especially if you come out flat. We've got to do a better job of that, we can't think like this series is going to go like last series.

"We've got to come out and have the same defensive effort going into Game 4 and that's just the urgency we need to have."

Donovan Mitchell starred for Cleveland, scoring 33 points, but was forced off late in the game due to a knee injury, and despite showing signs of a comeback, they could not find any answers in the fourth quarter.

"I just think we didn't hit the same shots we did [in Game 2]," Mitchell said.

"For us, just being able to finish. We missed a lot of shots at the rim, myself included, missed a lot of shots that I think we just got to make. And also, we didn't really shoot that great from 3, but not a bad per cent, but we didn't shoot that well.

"So I think those are different things, and we got to get our looks and take them, because if we don't, we're driving back into the crowd, and they want us to. So being able to take our shots when they're open."

Max Fried and two relievers combined on a no-hitter for 8 2/3 innings before J.D. Martinez homered to spoil the bid and the Atlanta Braves defeated the New York Mets 4-1 on Saturday.

Fried pitched seven no-hit innings but was pulled after throwing 109 pitches. Joe Jimenez walked two in a hitless eighth and Raisel Iglesias retired the first two batters in the ninth.

Martinez then homered just over the wall in right field on the next pitch off Iglesias, who walked Jeff McNeil and allowed Harrison Bader’s infield single before getting Brett Baty to fly to center.

The Braves fell just shy of their first no-hitter since Kent Mercker against the Dodgers on April 8, 1994. The no-hitter drought is the fourth-longest in the majors.

Orlando Arcia hit a two-run homer and Michael Harris II added three hits for the Braves, who won their fourth straight following a three-game skid.

 

Skenes debuts as Pirates outslug Cubs

Paul Skenes struck out 7 over four-plus innings in his major league debut and Yasmani Grandal hit a go-ahead three-run homer to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Skenes, the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, reached 100 mph on 17 of his 84 pitches. He allowed at least one runner in every inning and was pulled after yielding a pair of hits to open the fourth. He was charged with three runs on six hits with two walks and a hit batter.

Pirates relievers Kyle Nicolas, Josh Fleming and Colin Holderman threw 26 balls in a span of 31 pitches sandwiched around a 2 hour, 20-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth.

The Cubs drew six bases-loaded walks in the fifth, the most by a major league team in a single inning since the Chicago White Sox had eight in the seventh on April 22, 1959.

Connor Joe, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen and Michael A. Taylor homered as Pittsburgh snapped a three-game skid.

 

Blue Jays rally to cool Twins

Ernie Clement snapped a seventh-inning tie with an RBI single and the Toronto Blue Jays erased a six-run deficit in a 10-8 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Danny Jansen hit a two-run homer and Bo Bichette and Davis Schneider added solo shots for the Blue Jays, who set season highs in runs and hits (16) to send the Twins to just their third loss in 19 games.

Carlos Santana had a three-run home run and Ryan Jeffers also went deep as Minnesota’s seven-game road winning streak was snapped one win shy of matching the team record.

The Twins opened a 7-1 lead headed to the bottom of the third, but the Blue Jays got two runs back in the bottom half and scored three more in the fifth on homers by Schneider and Jansen. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a two-run single in the sixth to tie it and Clement and Schneider had RBIs in the seventh.

Jayson Tatum had 33 points and 12 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 28 points as the Boston Celtics rode a bounce-back performance for a 106-93 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

After losing Game 2 at home by 24, the top-seeded Celtics looked more like themselves on Cleveland’s home court.

Tatum opened the second half with a three-point play to ignite a 14-0 run that gave Boston a 71-48 lead.

The Cavaliers got the deficit down to nine three times in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Payton Pritchard and Derrick White midway through the period ended any hope of a comeback.

Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points for Cleveland, but aggravated a left knee injury in the fourth quarter and was laboured. With Boston up 13 with 1:19 left, he left the court and walked directly to the locker room.

Evan Mobley added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had won their first four home playoff games. They haven’t won consecutive postseason contests since taking the first two against Orlando in the first round.

Cleveland was again without starting center Jarrett Allen, who missed his sixth straight game with a painful rib injury.

Boston center Kristaps Porzingis missed his fourth consecutive game with a calf strain.

 

Mavericks take 2-1 lead on Thunder

Kyrie Irving hit a running left-hander in the lane in the final minute and scored 22 points as the Dallas Mavericks held on for a 105-101 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Luka Dončić also had 22 points to go with 15 rebounds and P.J. Washington added 27 points, two shy of his playoff high from the previous game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 31 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks as the top-seeded Thunder lost their second straight after opening 5-0 in the playoffs.

Game 4 is Monday night in Dallas.

Chet Holmgren had 13 points and four of the Thunder’s 11 blocks, but Oklahoma City was outrebounded 16-5 on the offensive glass and outscored 16-9 in second-chance points.

Irving bounced back from scoring nine points in Game 2 with 14 points in the second half alone, including six consecutive Dallas points in the fourth quarter that helped the Mavs to their biggest lead of the final period at nine.

Oklahoma City decided to foul Dereck Lively II intentionally in the fourth quarter, and he missed three of the first four free throws before he hit the next four in a row to put Dallas up 100-95 with 3:06 left.

After Gilgeous-Alexander made two free throws, Irving’s basket restored the Mavericks’ five-point lead.

Arda Guler was once again on target for Real Madrid against Granada and an excited Carlo Ancelotti believes Los Blancos can expect more to come from the teenager.

Chances to impress in a first-team environment have been limited for Guler, who chose Madrid over Barcelona to join from Fenerbahce last July, owing to the quality of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

Yet the Turkey youngster has scored twice in his last three LaLiga starts, finding the net in Saturday's 4-0 thrashing of Granada after also striking against Real Sociedad on April 26.

"We still don't know what his potential is because he is very young," the Madrid head coach said of Guler.

"But he is showing incredible talent, he is very effective in front of goal and has speed.

"I don't know what his ceiling is, today it is difficult to say, but he has natural talent and he's doing very well."

Brahim Diaz has also had to settle for a backup role in the Spanish capital but scored twice in the hammering of Granada, as well as a goal for Fran Garcia.

Ancelotti heaped praise on his much-changed Madrid side as the newly-crowned LaLiga champions impressed after reaching the Champions League final in midweek with their win over Bayern Munich.

"Well… it's hard to say who surprised me the most," Ancelotti said after resting the likes of Jude Bellingham, Vinicius and Rodrygo in 10 changes for Saturday's victory.

"Among those who returned, Brahim earned an important role, but I don't want to forget Joselu or Fran Garcia, who arrived this year and did really well.

"Fran in the first period and the others, in terms of goals, were fundamental to having this level at this moment of the season."

Madrid host Alaves and Real Betis either side of a trip to Villarreal to end their league season, before the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund on June 1 at Wembley Stadium.

Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has come under scrutiny in recent weeks but lauded his side's determination after snapping their four-game winless run in Serie A on Saturday.

The Rossoneri hammered Cagliari 5-1 as Christian Pulisic was twice on target, along with goals from Rafael Leao, Tijjani Reijnders and Ismael Bennacer at San Siro.

That victory marked their first in the league since April 6 against Lecce and also ended a six-game winless run across all competitions.

Milan have already watched fierce rivals Inter lift the title but secured second place in the table after moving seven points clear of Bologna with two games remaining.

Despite a frustrating, stop-start season, Pioli was at least satisfied to see his team respond to their concerning run of form.

"It was very important to return to winning ways, we were not used to being so long without victories. We suffered this situation, well done to the guys for their determination," coach Pioli told Sky Sport.

"No team has managed to maintain the level of Inter and we were not able to have continuity to stick with them.

"Ours is a strong team, but one that failed to overcome decisive moments at a certain time during the season."

Nahitan Nandez pulled a goal back in the 63rd for Cagliari, who remain in 15th place with 33 points, three points above the relegation zone.

"It hurts to have conceded five goals, in the first half we did well defensively, but we were timid," Cagliari coach Claudio Ranieri said.

"Coming here to San Siro against an angry Milan side after the last results was difficult ... the last two matches will determine whether it will be salvation or relegation.

"Now we cancel everything and think about the next ones."

Pep Guardiola joked Manchester City have signed "the best winger on the planet" after defender Josko Gvardiol scored twice in Saturday's 4-0 thrashing of Fulham.

Centre-back Gvardiol once again operated at full-back on the left of City's four-man defence, finding the net in either half at Craven Cottage as Guardiola's side moved back to the Premier League summit.

His first came from a dancing run inside from Kevin De Bruyne's dinked pass before curling a well-taken right-footed finish into the bottom-left corner.

That passage of play may have been expected from City's attacking riches of Phil Foden, Erling Haaland or Bernardo Silva, though Gvardiol is becoming accustomed to starring at the other end of the pitch.

The Croatia international has netted five goals in his last seven games for City after not scoring in his first 32 matches across all competitions – but Guardiola is not surprised.

"The first goal, we signed the best winger on the planet," Guardiola jested with BBC Radio Manchester. "He's an incredible guy, can play in different positions.

"After Wolves I gave [the players] three days off, he was the only one who went to the training centre for his recovery.

"He lives for his profession. We have made an incredible signing for many, many years to come."

Foden also scored his 25th goal of the season for City, becoming just the second English player to score 25+ in a season for the club in the Premier League era (across all competitions), after Raheem Sterling in 2018-19 (25) and 2019-20 (31).

Julian Alvarez then wrapped up proceedings with a last-gasp penalty, taking the spot-kick from Gvardiol, who passed up the chance to score a hat-trick out of respect for his team-mate.

That domination ensured City will end the day in first place for just the eighth time in 2024 – overall, this will be the 72nd day they have ended in top spot this season, behind Liverpool (87) and Arsenal (74).

Guardiola's side are two points clear of Arsenal, who play Manchester United on Sunday, and still have a game in hand to come when visiting Tottenham on Tuesday.

The City manager told his post-match press conference: "Our dream is as we said a few weeks ago when [Arsenal] lost against Aston Villa was to arrive in the last games with it in our hands.

"We wanted to play West Ham at home with the destiny belonging to us."

Destiny remains in City's hands as they search for a sixth Premier League title in the last seven seasons.

Milan snapped a six-match winless run in all competitions with a crushing 5-1 victory over relegation-threatened Cagliari in Saturday's Serie A clash at San Siro.

The win moves Stefano Pioli's side closer to securing second place, sitting on 74 points and seven ahead of third-placed Bologna and eight clear of Juventus, who host Salernitana on Sunday.

Ismael Bennacer opened the scoring after 35 minutes, pouncing on a loose ball in the centre of the box before Christian Pulisic extended their advantage after a fast break in the 59th minute.

Tijjani Reijnders scored a third for Milan with a superb long-range effort in the 74th minute and Rafael Leao got on the scoresheet seven minutes from time before Pulisic sealed the rout three minutes later with his second of the game and 12th league goal this season.

Nahitan Nandez had pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute for Cagliari, who remain in 15th place with 33 points, three points above the relegation zone.

Jayden Seales continued his excellent form so far for Sussex CCC in this season’s County Championship Division Two with another five-wicket haul, this time against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

Seales has, so far, taken 5-101 in 23 overs as Glamorgan have advanced to 411-9 off 102 overs, replying to Sussex’s 278 all out off 87.2 overs on day one.

Glamorgan’s batting effort was led by excellent centuries from Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson.

Ingram led the way with a 248-ball 170 including 23 fours and three sixes while Carlson made 148 off 217 balls and hit 21 fours in the process.

Seales and Sussex will enter day three on Sunday trailing Glamorgan by 133 runs looking to dismiss them as quickly as possible.

Full scores:

Sussex 278 off 87.2 overs (Fynn Hudson-Prentice 48, Cheteshwar Pujara 41, Jack Carson 39, Aristides Karvelas 39, Mir Hamza 4-70, James Harris 4-93)

Glamorgan 411-9 off 102 overs (Colin Ingram 170, Kiran Carlson 148, Jayden Seales 5-101)

Elsewhere, Jason Holder was one of three Worcestershire batsmen to make centuries as they piled up a massive 618-7 declared in their first innings against Kent on day two at the St. Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.

Holder made a brilliant 123* off just 110 balls including seven fours and three sixes while Gareth Roderick and Matthew Waite both also reached three figures with 117 and 100*, respectively. 

Adam Hose fell just ten runs short of a century himself.

Joey Evison and Matt Parkinson each ended with three wicket-hauls for Kent.

In reply, Kent reached 111-2 at stumps with Captain Daniel Bell-Drummond (54*0 and Jack Leaning (43*) at the crease.

Joe Leach has taken both wickets to fall so far.

Full scores: 

Worcestershire 617-8 dec. off 158.5 overs (Jason Holder 123*, Gareth Roderick 117, Matthew Waite 100*, Adam Hose 90, Joey Evison 3-58, Matt Parkinson 3-201)

Kent 111-2 off 33 overs (Daniel Bell-Drummond 54*, Jack Leaning 43*, Joe Leach 2-12)

Real Madrid swept aside already relegated Granada in LaLiga on Saturday but Los Blancos attacker Brahim Diaz says all focus is on lifting the Champions League.

Diaz was twice on target as Madrid eased to a 4-0 away victory, with Fran Garcia and Arda Guler also finding the net for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Madrid had already been crowned LaLiga champions last weekend before edging through their Champions League semi-final clash with Bayern Munich in midweek.

The Spanish giants meet Borussia Dortmund in UEFA's showpiece at Wembley Stadium on June 1 – and the Champions League trophy was on Diaz's mind after defeating Granada.

"We all wanted to show that we want to get maximum points in the league. I'm very happy with the goals," Diaz told RMTV.

"I reached 12 goals and seven assists. It's very easy to play here, with these team-mates.

"The most important thing is the titles. We already have the [Spanish] Super Cup, the league and we want the Champions League."

Granada remain in 19th place with 21 points, while 15th-placed Mallorca's victory over Las Palmas earlier in the day confirmed their relegation after just one season in the top flight.

"You could have expected it, of course, but when Mallorca wins it becomes mathematical and getting relegated, it's one of the most complicated games we've ever played," Granada's Carlos Neva told DAZN.

"I told my team-mates that we should finish fighting, with our heads held high. We should enjoy the top flight, because we don't know if we'll ever play in it again."

Madrid head coach Ancelotti, meanwhile, had words of encouragement for the relegated side.

"In sport you have to look at defeat too, it has to be an opportunity to do better in the future," the Italian told his post-match press conference.

"Granada is an important club and they will try everything to get promoted next season and they have the chance to do it."

Edin Terzic warned Borussia Dortmund must swiftly forget about their Champions League heroics in Paris after a 3-0 humbling by Mainz on Saturday.

Lee Jae-Sung twice punished a sloppy Dortmund performance after Leandro Barreiro had opened the scoring for relegation-battling Mainz in their Bundesliga clash.

That abject performance came after BVB managed a 1-0 away victory against Paris Saint-Germain, progressing to the Champions League final after a 2-0 aggregate victory over Luis Enrique's side.

Dortmund head coach Terzic was far from impressed after defeat against Mainz left his side four points adrift of fourth-placed RB Leipzig in the German top flight.

"Let's let Paris be Paris and talk about last week and this week," Terzic told Sky Sport Germany.

"The starting position was similar to last week. Except now we were always late and outnumbered.

"It was a deserved defeat, especially because of the first half."

Marco Reus echoed Terzic's sentiment after Dortmund came crashing back down to earth following their European success.

"If you see the first half, it's deserved, even at the highest level," the Dortmund veteran added.

"We expect more from ourselves. There was still a lot at stake for Mainz.

"It was important for us to continue to gain self-confidence. That just was not good today. This is a pity."

Dortmund will hope to respond when they host Darmstadt next Saturday before their Champions League final against Real Madrid on June 1 at Wembley Stadium.

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil says there is a "lot of work to be done" at Molineux ahead of next season, after their downturn continued with a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday.  

Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze were on target as Wolves were beaten in their final home game of the campaign, with the in-form Eagles making it five wins in six matches.  

Wolves have won just one of their last 10 games in all competitions (two draws, seven defeats), a run which began with a dramatic FA Cup quarter-final collapse against Coventry City in March.

After beating Fulham 2-1 on March 9, O'Neil's team sat eighth in the Premier League table, just one point adrift of the top seven.

However, injuries to key attackers Pedro Neto, Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha stunted their momentum and a once-promising campaign will now fizzle out to a bottom-half finish.

O'Neil has previously said Wolves will not be able to spend big in the transfer market ahead of 2024-25, but he knows they need to strengthen. 

"There's lots that we have to improve," he said. "In the first two thirds of the season we looked like a team chasing Europe, and in the last third of the season you could see the issues that we've had and those have come to light. 

"As a football club, we need to have a real good look at the last few weeks.

"People are starting to come back, and we still haven't managed to regain that impetus and momentum that we had before. 

"There's a lot of work to be done between now and the start of next season, and a tough away game next week at Anfield."

Wolves go to Liverpool for their last game of the season next week, as the Reds' final opponents under departing boss Jurgen Klopp.

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