TENNIS

Top players easily reach quarterfinals at Madrid

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal made their way to the Madrid Open quarterfinals Thursday, each with straight-set wins.

The top-ranked Djokovic beat Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-2, 6-1 for his 30th win of the season. Defending champion Murray defeated Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-2, and Nadal topped American Sam Querrey, 6-4, 6-2.

Djokovic had 25 winners and only 11 unforced errors. He will next face 10th-ranked Milos Raonic, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4, 6-4.

Murray, seeded second, broke Simon’s serve in the final game of the first set and twice in the second to stay on track to defend his title.

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Nadal will next play Portuguese Joao Sousa, who defeated American Jack Sock, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2.

Also, sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori defeated 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, and eighth-seeded Tomas Berdych beat ninth-seeded David Ferrer, 7-6 (8), 7-5. Australian Nick Kyrgios beat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 behind 14 aces.

n In the women’s tournament, 19-year-old American qualifier Louisa Chirico defeated Daria Gavrilova of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to reach the semifinals.

Chirico will next face 38th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, who rallied to defeat wild card Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Simona Halep beat Romanian compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 0-6, 6-1. She will play Samantha Stosur, who defeated Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig, 6-3, 6-4.

SOCCER

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U.S. HALL OF FAME: World Cup champions Brandi Chastain and Shannon MacMillan, and MLS Commissioner Don Garber have been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Chastain, who scored the winning goal in the 1999 World Cup final shootout against China, was selected on the player ballot. MacMillan, her teammate on that squad, was voted in on the veteran ballot. Garber was chosen on the builder ballot.

EUROPA LEAGUE: Liverpool stands in the way of a third straight title for Sevilla after the clubs with a rich pedigree in Europe’s second-tier competition reached the final.

Sevilla beat Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 at home to advance 5-3 on aggregate and maintain its impressive recent history in the competition.

Liverpool, a three-time winner, overturned a first-leg deficit against Villarreal by winning 3-0 at home to go through 3-1 on aggregate.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

OBITUARY: Police in Florida said fighter Jordan Parsons died in a hospital Wednesday, three days after he was injured in a hit-and-run crash crossing a highway. The Michigan native fought for Bellator MMA and had an 11-2 record.

– From news service reports


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