TENNIS

Nadal tops Seppi, advances to final at Hamburg Open

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal dismissed Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a final against Fabio Fognini at Hamburg, Germany.

The fourth-seeded Fogini beat qualifier Lucas Pouille, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Nadal is looking to extend his streak of having won at least one European clay court title every year since 2004. The former No. 1 has dropped to 10th in the rankings and is in his first tournament since losing in the second round of Wimbledon.

SWISS OPEN: Top-seeded David Goffin eased to a 6-4, 6-2 win against two-time champion Thomaz Bellucci in the semifinals at Gstaad, Switzerland.

In Sunday’s final, the 14th-ranked Goffin will face 24th-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria.

ATLANTA OPEN: Two-time defending champion John Isner rallied to reach his 19th ATP Tour final, beating friend Denis Kudla 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals.

BASKETBALL

NBA: The league put on a show in its first exhibition game in Africa – starting with a dunk straight from the tip-off by Luc Mbah a Moute.

That had the crowd roaring early at Ellis Park Arena in downtown Johannesburg and it got even louder when African NBA legends Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo stripped off their business suits to don their old team uniforms again and play for a little while in the second quarter.

After a relaxed first half, the game got serious as Chris Paul’s Team World beat Luol Deng’s “home” Team Africa 101-97.

Team Africa was made up of players born in Africa or with African heritage.

Team Africa’s Boris Diaw of the San Antonio Spurs said he’s hoping for another chance to play for an African lineup. “It was an amazing experience. So proud to be able to represent the continent.”

SOCCER

MLS: Ignacio Piatti scored a pair of goals and the Montreal Impact spoiled Frank Lampard’s MLS debut with a 3-2 victory over New York City FC.

The former English national star energized the sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium when he entered as a substitute in the 69th minute immediately after David Villa closed NYCFC’s deficit to 2-1 on a penalty kick.

• Charlie Davies scored twice, Lee Nguyen added a penalty kick and the New England Revolution (8-9-7) beat 10-man Toronto FC 3-1 at Toronto.

U.S. national team star Jermaine Jones entered the game in the 76th minute, his first appearance for the Revolution since May 31.

CYCLING

NEW ADDITION: After helping Sky win three Tours de France, Australian rider Richie Porte, 30, confirmed he will join the U.S. registered BMC Racing for the 2016 season.

Porte, who won nine races in 2015, teams up with American Tejay van Garderen, another rider with the potential of winning big races.

COLLEGES

BASKETBALL: Coach John Calipari suggested that the increasing international flavor of Kentucky’s roster is more coincidence than conscious effort to recruit globally.

Kentucky freshmen Skal Labissiere and Jamal Murray are from Haiti and Canada, respectively. Transfer Mychal Mulder is also Canadian. Karl-Anthony Towns, who sat next to Calipari at a joint news conference, played for the Dominican Republic national team.

Speculation has UK interested in a 7-foot native of Australia.

“It’s not been by design,” Calipari said. “The guys we have, I don’t care where they’re from.”

To add to the international intrigue, Calipari mentioned a 7-foot-5 Italian who apparently was visiting the UK campus recently.

– From news service reports