Sports News Roundup: Ashleigh Barty advances in Stuttgart; Kirill Kaprizov (2 goals) leads Wild past Kings and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

ATP roundup: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic reach respective semifinals

Coming off back-to-back three-set matches, No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal rolled to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Great Britain's Cameron Norrie on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Barcelona Open. The 11-time Barcelona champion saved two of three break points and took advantage of five double-faults by Norrie. Nadal will meet fellow Spaniard and No. 6 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who outlasted No. 4 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 35 minutes.

WTA roundup: Ashleigh Barty advances in Stuttgart

The top two seeds, Australia's Ashleigh Barty and Romania's Simona Halep, respectively, scored quarterfinal victories Friday and moved on to the semifinal round at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. Fourth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine joined them, advancing past seventh-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-2.

NHL roundup: Kirill Kaprizov (2 goals) leads Wild past Kings

Kirill Kaprizov continued his stellar rookie season, scoring two goals to lead the visiting Minnesota Wild in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night. Kaprizov leads all NHL rookies with 21 goals and 40 points. He has six goals and three assists in eight games against the Kings this season, and he broke Wild's rookie record for power-play goals by scoring his seventh on Friday.

Tiger posts photo of himself on crutches, says rehab is 'coming along'

Tiger Woods posted a photo of himself on crutches on Friday and said his rehab is "coming along" two months after the golf great suffered severe leg injuries when his car careened off a road near Los Angeles and crashed. The photo on the Instagram account of the 45-year-old American showed him smiling on a golf course with a black and white dog.

Djokovic hopes COVID-19 vaccine will not become compulsory for players

Novak Djokovic said he hopes it will not become mandatory for players to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to compete on the ATP circuit and that their freedom of choice should be supported. The ATP earlier this month issued new guidelines saying players who have been vaccinated would not be considered a close contact of anybody testing positive. The governing body of men's tennis also drew up an exemption list for players who have been vaccinated.

Japanese F1 GP to remain at Suzuka until end of 2024

The Japanese Grand Prix will remain at Suzuka until at least the end of the 2024 season after Formula One and circuit owners announced a three-year contract extension on Saturday. The figure of eight-track southwest of Nagoya first hosted a Formula One race in 1987 and has provided the decider for 11 drivers' championships.

NFL wants vaccines to be 'conveniently available' to players

The NFL is encouraging teams to make the COVID-19 vaccine "easily and conveniently available" for all players, families and team staff members but stopped short of requiring vaccinations for players in a memo issued Friday. The memo said that 14 teams already have held a "vaccination day" for team personnel, and 11 more have them scheduled. The league also is working with CVS to arrange for vaccinations for people away from team facilities.

Snooker: McGill eliminates title holder O'Sullivan at World Championship

Anthony McGill upset reigning champion, Ronnie O'Sullivan, 13-12 in the World Championship second round on Friday, denying him a shot at a record-equalling seventh Crucible title. World number 16 McGill, a losing semi-finalist at the venue in Sheffield, England in 2020, got off to a strong start and won six of the eight frames in the morning session.

NBA roundup: Nets nip Celtics, claim 1st in East

Joe Harris scored 20 points as the Brooklyn Nets survived a rough shooting night by Kyrie Irving and withstood a late charge by the Boston Celtics to record a 109-104 victory on Friday in New York. The Nets moved a half-game ahead of the idle Philadelphia 76ers into the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Chiefs acquire Pro Bowl LT Orlando Brown Jr. from Ravens

The Kansas City Chiefs took a significant step forward in protecting star quarterback Patrick Mahomes' blindside by acquiring Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. from the Baltimore Ravens on Friday. The Chiefs confirmed the deal, which is pending the result of a physical.

(With inputs from agencies.)