Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Federer wins Indian Wells opener, Nishikori survives three-setter

Roger Federer began his campaign for a record sixth Indian Wells title by defeating German Peter Gojowczyk 6-1 7-5 in the BNP Paribas Open in California on Sunday. Fresh from earning his 100th ATP singles title a week ago in Dubai, the Swiss fourth seed repelled a tough second set challenge from the world No.85 before booking his third round place. Golf: 'Best putting round ever' lifts Molinari to brink of Bay Hill win

Francesco Molinari threatened to claim an unlikely victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he stormed home with a closing eight-under-par 64 in Florida on Sunday. The British Open champion enjoyed his "best putting day ever" which he capped off by sinking a 45-foot birdie at the difficult par-four 18th at Bay Hill in Orlando. Spring training roundup: Rays smack six homers

The Tampa Bay Rays clobbered six solo home runs while cruising to an 8-1 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox in Port Charlotte, Fla. Guillermo Heredia went deep twice, while Joey Wendle, Mike Zunino, Avisail Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe each did so once. Zunino added an RBI double, and Wendle and Ji-Man Choi each had two hits as well. Serena Williams retires ill at Indian Wells

An ill Serena Williams retired from the BNP Paribas Open while trailing Spain's Garbine Muguruza 6-3 1-0 at Indian Wells on Sunday. Williams had taken a 3-0 lead in the first set before losing the next seven games. She walked to the chair after the first game of the second set and sat down, breathing heavily. After a discussion with supervisor Donna Kelso the American retired. Alpine skiing: Hirscher wins eighth successive World Cup title

Austria's Marcel Hirscher extended his dominance of Alpine skiing as he won a remarkable eighth successive overall World Cup title on Sunday. The 30-year-old finished third in the slalom at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia to take an unassailable 509 point lead at the top of the standings with four races to go. Hirscher has also won the slalom and giant slalom titles for the season. Halep claims tough win over qualifier Kozlova

World number two Simona Halep survived a tough challenge from Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova to win their third round match 7-6(3) 7-5 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, on Sunday. The Romanian finally put away the 114th ranked Kozlova with eight consecutive points in the second set, a backhand winner proving the decider just as it had in the first set. Top 25 roundup: No. 12 Houston tops No. 20 Cincy for AAC crown

Corey Davis Jr. scored a career-high 31 points as 12th-ranked Houston captured its first outright league championship since the 1983-84 season with an 85-69 victory over host Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. Nate Hinton and Armoni Brooks each made four 3-pointers for the American Athletic Conference champion Cougars (29-2, 16-2), who claimed their first regular-season title since securing a share of the Southwest Conference championship in 1992. U.S. Olympic medalist Kelly Catlin dies at age 23

Olympian Kelly Catlin, who helped the United States win the women's pursuit team silver medal at the 2016 Rio Games, has died, USA Cycling said on Sunday. The three-time world champion was 23. "The U.S. cycling community suffered a devastating loss with the passing of Kelly Catlin," USA Cycling President and Chief Executive Rob DeMartini said in a statement. "Kelly was more than an athlete to us, and she will always be part of the USA Cycling family." Busch captures 52nd career Cup victory with Phoenix win

Kyle Busch easily could have laid claim to being the top Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver not driving a Team Penske Ford through the first three races of the 2019 season. Following Sunday's victory at ISM Raceway near Phoenix, Busch can now lay claim to be the series' top driver. Period. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver dominated in Arizona, leading a race-best 177 of 312 laps in winning the TicketGuardian 500 -- a race that began with Busch being the only driver in Cup to have notched top-10 finishes in the previous three events. Hall of Famer Howell dies at 86

Hall of Fame defenseman Harry Howell, known for his durability and toughness, has died. He was 86. Howell had been battling dementia and was living at a long-term assisted care facility close to his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. The Hamilton Spectator said Howell died late Saturday night.