Sports News Roundup: Djokovic shrugs off dad drama to reach 10th Australian Open final; Italian Rugby Federation suspends player over racist gift and more

Nine-times champion Djokovic maintained his perfect semi-final record at Melbourne Park with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 win over outgunned American Tommy Paul at Rod Laver Arena, where his father Srdjan was a conspicuous absentee. Tennis-Tsitsipas eyes boyhood dream of Grand Slam title, top ranking Stefanos Tsitsipas moved into the Australian Open final on Friday, taking a step towards becoming the first Greek world number one, which the third seed said would be the culmination of a boyhood dream.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Doping-Russian agency records 375 whereabouts rule violations in 2022

Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA said on Friday it had recorded 375 cases last year in which athletes did not properly provide their whereabouts to allow for them to be tested for banned substances, TASS news agency reported. Rocked by doping scandals for years, Russia has acknowledged some shortcomings in the implementation of anti-doping rules but denies ever running a state-sponsored doping scheme.

Russia says any attempts to oust it from global sport over Ukraine will fail

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that any attempt to squeeze Moscow out of international sport because of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine was "doomed to fail." Since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February last year, some sports bodies have suspended Russian teams or athletes to protest against Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Tennis-Djokovic shrugs off dad drama to reach 10th Australian Open final

Novak Djokovic shrugged off controversy involving his father to reach a record-extending 10th Australian Open final on Friday and set up a blockbuster decider with Greek trailblazer Stefanos Tsitsipas and a battle for the world number one ranking. Nine-times champion Djokovic maintained his perfect semi-final record at Melbourne Park with a 7-5 6-1 6-2 win over outgunned American Tommy Paul at Rod Laver Arena, where his father Srdjan was a conspicuous absentee.

Tennis-Tsitsipas eyes boyhood dream of Grand Slam title, top ranking

Stefanos Tsitsipas moved into the Australian Open final on Friday, taking a step towards becoming the first Greek world number one, which the third seed said would be the culmination of a boyhood dream. Backed by the predominantly Greek crowd on Rod Laver Arena, the 24-year-old stormed into the second Grand Slam title clash of his career following Roland Garros in 2021, after a 7-6(2) 6-4 6-7(6) 6-3 win over Russian 18th seed Karen Khachanov.

Djokovic defends 'misused' father over Russia flag controversy

Novak Djokovic defended his father after a video emerged showing him posing at the Australian Open with some fans holding Russian flags, saying he was "misused" by the individuals and that his family was against war. Djokovic's father Srdjan skipped his son's semi-final win over Tommy Paul on Friday, choosing to "watch from home" instead after a video emerged on social media following the Serbian's quarter-final win over Andrey Rublev on Wednesday.

Rugby-Italian Rugby Federation suspends player over racist gift

Benetton Rugby prop Ivan Nemer has been suspended until June 30 after giving black team mate Cherif Traore a "rotten banana" as a Christmas present, the Italian Rugby Federation said on Friday. The sanction was imposed based on investigations into what happened during a private lunch organised by the club's players on Dec. 20.

Tennis-Grand Slam Board says safeguarding Davis Cup is a priority

All four tennis Grand Slams will make it a priority to safeguard the Davis Cup men's team tournament, the governing body of the sport's most prestigious events said on Friday, two weeks after the ITF's partnership with investment group Kosmos ended. The International Tennis Federation said on Jan. 12 that its partnership with former Barcelona soccer player Gerard Pique's Kosmos was ending five years into a 25-year, $3 billion agreement.

Soccer-Man Utd cannot be complacent against Reading - Ten Hag

Manchester United expect Reading to be highly motivated for Saturday's FA Cup meeting and will not take their second-tier opponents lightly, manager Erik ten Hag said on Friday. United have won five out of their seven games in 2023 and are fourth in the Premier League standings on 39 points.

Olympics-Ukraine could boycott Olympics if Russians allowed back-minister

Ukraine would not rule out boycotting the Olympic Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete in the Paris 2024 Games, its sports minister said. Plans by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to look at ways for those athletes to return to international competition would be opposed, the minister, Vadim Guttsait, said on social media late on Thursday.

Rugby-RFU apologises for 'anger and concern' caused by tackle height guidelines

England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Friday apologised after its new low tackle guidelines were met with widespread criticism, adding it would conduct workshops with volunteers, players, coaches and match officials to explain the proposals. The RFU announced last week that tackling above the waist will be banned in community rugby matches from next season to reduce head impact exposure and concussion risk.

(With inputs from agencies.)