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Atalanta Follows Up Elimination of Liverpool with 2-1 win at Monza in Serie A

File photo: Soccer Football - Europa League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Atalanta v Liverpool - Stadio Atleti Azzurri, Bergamo, Italy, - April 18, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah shakes hands with manager Juergen Klopp after being substituted as Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez prepare to come on as substitutes. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
File photo: Soccer Football - Europa League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Atalanta v Liverpool - Stadio Atleti Azzurri, Bergamo, Italy, - April 18, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah shakes hands with manager Juergen Klopp after being substituted as Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez prepare to come on as substitutes. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
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Atalanta Follows Up Elimination of Liverpool with 2-1 win at Monza in Serie A

File photo: Soccer Football - Europa League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Atalanta v Liverpool - Stadio Atleti Azzurri, Bergamo, Italy, - April 18, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah shakes hands with manager Juergen Klopp after being substituted as Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez prepare to come on as substitutes. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
File photo: Soccer Football - Europa League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Atalanta v Liverpool - Stadio Atleti Azzurri, Bergamo, Italy, - April 18, 2024 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah shakes hands with manager Juergen Klopp after being substituted as Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez prepare to come on as substitutes. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Atalanta followed up its elimination of Liverpool in the Europa League with a 2-1 win at Monza in a regional Serie A derby on Sunday.
Ademola Lookman assisted on both goals, first providing the corner kick that Charles De Ketelaere headed in and then setting up El Bilal Toure to finish off a counterattack.
Daniel Maldini pulled one back for Monza in the 89th and then nearly equalized when he hit the post five minutes into stoppage time.
The victory moved Atalanta up to sixth place and one point behind Roma in the race for the final Champions League spot, The Associated Press said.
Atalanta could also qualify for the Champions League if it wins the Europa League, having beaten Liverpool on 3-1 aggregate on Thursday. The Bergamo team faces Marseille in the semifinals.
Atalanta will also look to overturn a 1-0 deficit to Fiorentina in the second leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Wednesday.
With 21 goals and 12 assists, Lookman became the fifth player to score more than 20 goals and deliver more than 10 assists since the start of last season in Serie A, after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Rafael Leão, Paulo Dybala and Olivier Giroud.
Fiorentina produced two late goals to secure a 2-0 win at last-place Salernitana, moving the Tuscan club up to ninth place and back into contention for a spot in Europe.
Christian Kouame scored with a looping header in the 80th and Jonathan Ikone added another in stoppage time following a rebound of a save by Salernitana goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Salernitana, which is 13 points from safety with five rounds remaining, is nearing mathematical relegation.
Fiorentina, which has advanced to the Europa Conference League semifinals, ended a five-match winless streak in Serie A. The Viola also have a game to make up against Atalanta.
There was a brief clash between Salernitana and Fiorentina supporters before kickoff that resulted in injuries to 10 police officers, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported — adding that no fans were arrested.
Also, 10th-place Torino, which is also chasing a spot in Europe, drew 0-0 with Frosinone, which is third from the bottom.
Lecce won 3-0 at Sassuolo to move seven points clear of the drop zone, while Sassuolo remained second from the bottom.
Inter Milan can seal the Italian league title with a derby win over AC Milan on Monday.

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Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)

Jack Draper ended Carlos Alcaraz's bid for a rare Indian Wells ATP Masters three-peat on Saturday, toppling the Spaniard to book a title clash with Holger Rune.

Britain's Draper, ranked 14th in the world, held his nerve to beat Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career.

Denmark's Rune, ranked 13th, triumphed 7-5, 6-4 over world number six Daniil Medvedev -- who had been runner-up to Alcaraz each of the past two years.

"This one hurts," admitted Alcaraz, who was trying to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight titles in the California desert.

"I don't want to lose any match, but I think this one was even more special to me. It was difficult today, a lot of nerves in the match."

Draper ended Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak in the California desert, leaping out of the gate and wrapping up the first set in 23 minutes as Alcaraz failed to get to grips with the left-hander's serve.

The second set was a mirror image of the first as Alcaraz found his range and after fending off a break point with a 137-mph ace in the opening game broke Draper three times to level the match.

“It was a strange match in all honesty,” Draper said. "Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace ...

"What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line."

Draper, who lost a set to love for the first time in his career, broke Alcaraz for a 2-1 lead in the third in a game that featured a lengthy video review that showed the Briton had indeed managed to scoop back a winner off an Alcaraz drop shot without a double bounce.

Upon review umpire Mohamed Lahyani first called for the point to be replayed but then awarded it to Draper, ruling his "not up" call in the rally hadn't hindered Alcaraz.

"Waiting for the ball reviews, they didn't bother me at all," Alcaraz said. "All I can say is Jack came, he played much better than me. That point didn't affect my play at all."

With momentum on his side, Draper broke again for 5-2 lead -- Alcaraz failing to put away four game points.

Draper did show some nerves as he served for the match at 5-2 and was broken, abut steadied himself to seal the victory on his second opportunity.

Rune executed a thoughtful game plan to perfection against Medvedev to snap a seven-match losing streak in semi-finals.

"It was to really play my game, come forward, take the ball on the rise," Rune said of his strategy against a player known for his defense.

"If you hit hard to him, he likes the pace and he responds well to being in the defense and hitting strong back.

"So I tried to make it difficult for him. I tried to mix it up, making every shot that he has to play annoying for him. Slices, slow slices, some mixing the tempo, hitting hard on some, looping some."

After an early exchange of breaks in the opening set, Rune managed to grind out a key hold for 4-4, saving one break point in a game that went to deuce six times and lasted nearly 11 minutes.

He broke for a 6-5 lead and pocketed the set when his rolling backhand drew another error from Medvedev, then rode an early break in the second set to victory.