Sports News Roundup: Tennis-Djokovic to miss Miami Open over vaccine status; Tennis-Rybakina says she reached highest level in rout of Swiatek and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

NCAA Tournament roundup: Fairleigh Dickinson makes history against Purdue

For just the second time in 152 tries, a No. 16 wore the slipper perfectly against a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Sean Moore scored 19 and Grant Singleton added eight points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals as No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson shocked No. 1 Purdue 63-58 on Friday night in an East Region first-round game in Columbus, Ohio.

Spring training roundup: Nats score 8 in ninth to beat Astros

Darren Baker hit a game-tying grand slam in the ninth inning as the Washington Nationals roared back with eight runs to beat the Houston Astros 11-7 on Friday in a spring training game in West Palm Beach, Fla. Houston entered the top of the ninth up 7-3, with Jeremy Pena earlier slugging two home runs and going 3-for-3 with three RBIs.

Tennis-Sabalenka says WTA doing its best to support players amid tensions due to war

World number two Aryna Sabalenka said the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) was doing a good job of supporting players from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus amid tensions in the locker room following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year. Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from her match with Belarusian Sabalenka at Indian Wells due to what she said was a panic attack triggered by a chat with WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon about tennis's response to Russia's invasion.

Tennis-New mother Svitolina to make comeback at Charleston Open in April

Former world number three Elina Svitolina will make her return to the WTA Tour following her maternity break at next month's Charleston Open in South Carolina after accepting a wild card, organisers of the claycourt tournament said. Ukraine's Svitolina, who last played a year ago in Miami, is set to return to action following the birth of her daughter Skai with husband and fellow tennis player Gael Monfils.

Women's NCAA roundup: South Florida tops Marquette in OT

Elena Tsineke's jumper with 31.2 seconds left lifted eighth-seeded South Florida to a 67-65 overtime win over ninth-seeded Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Greenville 1 Regional on Friday in Columbia, S.C. "What a way to start the NCAA Tournament," South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said.

Tennis-Rybakina knocks out defending champion Swiatek to reach Indian Wells final

Elena Rybakina knocked out defending champion Iga Swiatek with a 6-2 6-2 semi-final victory at Indian Wells on Friday to set up a clash against Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Two months after Rybakina knocked Swiatek out of the Australian Open in the fourth round, the Wimbledon champion once again put in an impressive display against the world number one.

Tennis-Djokovic to miss Miami Open over vaccine status

Novak Djokovic will miss next week's Miami Open after the Serbian was denied an exemption that would have allowed him to enter the U.S. despite not being vaccinated against COVID-19, tournament director James Blake said on Friday. "We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake told Tennis Channel.

Tennis-Rybakina says she reached highest level in rout of Swiatek

Elena Rybakina said she showed glimpses of her best form during her dominant win over world number one Iga Swiatek in the Indian Wells semi-final on Friday, adding she feels she can beat anyone by maintaining that level. The world number 10 thrashed holder Swiatek 6-2 6-2 to set up a clash with Aryna Sabalenka. The Kazakh said her aggressive style and booming serve made all the difference in the match.

Olympics-Keep Russian, Belarusian athletes banned-German Olympic Committee

Germany's Olympic committee (DOSB) said on Friday it was in favour of maintaining a ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes but opposed any plans to boycott the Paris 2024 Olympics over their participation. Ukraine has spearheaded a call to ban athletes from Russia and its close ally Belarus from the Paris Games next year after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in January said it was open to including them as neutrals.

Soccer-Canada's 'heartbroken' Beckie to miss World Cup after ACL injury

Canada and Portland Thorns forward Janine Beckie will miss this year's Women's World Cup after she confirmed on Friday that she has torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee. In a statement on their website, reigning National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) champions Thorns said Beckie will miss the remainder of the 2023 season and added that she will "have surgery in the coming weeks to repair the injury."

(With inputs from agencies.)