TENNIS
Rafael Nadal trailed by a set and 0-40 before rallying to beat Spanish countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 and reach the Paris Masters semifinals on Friday.
Nadal, trying to win this tournament for the first time, next plays Alexander Zverev, who beat Stan Wawrinka, 6-3, 7-6 (1).
Nadal’s victory ensured Diego Schwartzman the last slot at the ATP finals, at Carreno Busta’s expense. Schwartzman qualified for that event in London from Nov. 15-22, despite earlier losing to Daniil Medvedev, 6-3, 6-1.
Medvedev next faces 2014 runner-up Milos Raonic, who saved two match points in beating unseeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: D’Eriq King threw five touchdown passes, the last a go-ahead 54-yard catch-and-run play with Michael Harley with 2:43 left, and No. 11 Miami rallied to beat North Carolina State, 44-41, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Miami (6-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast) scored the final 13 points to win its third game in a row and match last season’s victory total under second-year coach Manny Diaz.
King was 31 for 41 for 430 yards and ran for a game-high 105 yards on 15 carries.
Zonovan Knight had a 100-yard kickoff return for N.C. State (4-3, 4-3).
• The Pac-12 opener between Utah and Arizona on Saturday in Salt Lake City was canceled because of a rise in positive COVID-19 cases within the Utes program.
Utah Athletic Director Mark Harlan said a number of positive coronavirus tests Friday morning put Utah below the Pac-12’s minimum threshold of 53 available scholarship players under the conference’s game cancelation policy. The Pac-12 approved the request on Friday.
The cancellation is the second in two days for the Pac-12, which is set to kick off its seven-game season this weekend. A game between Washington and California was canceled Thursday.
Games between Arizona State and No. 20 Southern California, UCLA and Colorado, Washington State and Oregon State, along with Stanford at No. 12 Oregon are still scheduled to be played Saturday.
AUTO RACING
TRUCKS: Sheldon Creed gambled on new tires for a two-lap overtime and snatched the Truck Series championship away from teammate Brett Moffitt.
Moffitt was cruising to his second title in three years when a spin brought out a caution at Phoenix Raceway. Creed, one of 14 drivers to pit for fresh tires, restarted eighth and figured he’d watch Moffitt win the title for the team.
But Moffitt was a sitting duck as the leader on four old tires. He was passed immediately on the restart and faded all the way to 10th as the field cruised past.
HIGH SCHOOLS
COURT ALLOWS TOURNAMENT: The West Virginia Supreme Court ruled to allow a high school soccer tournament to kick off after a lower court had temporarily halted it over coronavirus spread.
Shortly after, the Secondary School Activities Commission tweeted a picture of teams lining up to play. The commission said in its appeal petition Thursday that a Berkeley County circuit judge lacked jurisdiction in the case.
The judge ruled in favor of Martinsburg High School soccer player Emily Beck. She sought to delay the Class AAA tournament, scheduled to start Friday.
Berkeley County high school soccer teams were unable to compete in sectional play because the county’s rate of coronavirus cases prohibited athletic contests from being played. Instead, teams from nearby Jefferson County advanced to the state tournament.
Beck’s petition had said Berkeley athletes were denied equal protection under the law because they did not have access to free virus testing given to other counties.
HORSE RACING
BREEDERS’ CUP: Jockey Christophe Soumillon has left Keeneland and is in isolation after positive COVID-19 tests.
A statement from the Breeders’ Cup says the French rider was tested Wednesday and is not showing symptoms. Those he came in contact with since arriving have received negative results after additional testing. Connections for both horses have also been notified.
Soumillon was scheduled to ride Irish horses Order of Australia in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Tarnawa in the Turf. His positive test was the only one of 55 given to all Breeders’ Cup jockeys.
CYCLING
SPANISH VUELTA: Defending champion Primoz Roglic extended his lead before the final competitive stage by earning some precious bonus seconds at the finish of Stage 16, which was won by Magnus Cort Nielsen.
Roglic earned six bonus seconds by finishing second in the hilly stage. That gave him a 45-second advantage over Richard Carapaz heading into Saturday’s decisive mountain test.
Cort Nielsen won a sprint finish to claim the 100-mile ride from Salamanca to Ciudad Rodrigo through the wooded hills of western Spain. It was the Danish rider’s third career stage win at the Vuelta, and his first in any race since February.
Saturday’s stage will take riders 110 miles from Sequeros to the beyond-category summit at the top of the Alto de la Covatilla. The penultimate stage will determine the winner ahead of the ceremonial arrival in Madrid on Sunday.
SOCCER
NEYMAR TO PLAY: Neymar will come to South America for World Cup qualifying matches despite a groin injury he picked up in a Champions League match for Paris Saint-Germain.
Brazil Coach Tite called Flamengo striker Pedro for the matches against Venezuela and Uruguay on Nov. 13 and 17, without removing Neymar from the squad.
Dr. Rodrigo Lasmar said he expects Neymar to be available for the clash at Uruguay “after an intensive week of training” with Brazil in Teresopolis, outside Rio de Janeiro.
“We have the chance of recovery for the second match,” Lasmar told Brazil’s soccer confederation website. “We will follow his development closely.”
PSG Coach Thomas Tuchel said last week it would be “impossible” for Neymar to play for Brazil as he recovered from the injury.
ITALY: Italy Coach Roberto Mancini tested positive for the coronavirus, days before the international break.
Mancini and the rest of his staff underwent routine testing before the Italy squad meet on Sunday. Mancini, 55, shows no symptoms according to the Italian Football Federation, and he is self-isolating at his home in Rome.
The federation said Mancini will join the squad as soon as he’s allowed by UEFA and FIGC protocols. Italy plays a friendly against Estonia on Wednesday, and hosts Poland in the Nations League four days later. Italy is second in Group 1 in League A, a point below Poland and a point above the Netherlands.
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