Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Muguruza marches into Australian Open semi-finals

Garbine Muguruza stormed back into the Grand Slam big time with an emphatic 7-5 6-3 win over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach her first Australian Open semi-final on Wednesday. The twice Grand Slam champion will meet former finalist Simona Halep on Thursday for a place in the title match after another confidence-building performance at Melbourne Park on a sunbathed Rod Laver Arena. NBA roundup: Middleton scores 51 as Giannis-less Bucks explode

Khris Middleton scored a career-high 51 points, Milwaukee recorded a franchise-record 88 first-half points, and the Bucks held off a second-half surge to beat the visiting Washington Wizards 151-131 on Tuesday. Despite playing without reigning Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo, who missed the contest to rest a sore right shoulder, Milwaukee burst to a season-best 42 first-quarter points. Petition to make Bryant the new NBA logo nears 2 million signatures

Nearly 2 million people have signed an online petition to use Kobe Bryant's image as the new logo for the National Basketball Association following the death of the Los Angeles Lakers great on Sunday. Bryant, one of the NBA's all-time greatest players, and his 13-year-old daughter were among nine people who died on Sunday when the helicopter they were in crashed into a hillside outside the town of Calabasas, California. Let's get the party started, Super Bowl set for epic bash

Take one of the world's great party destinations, add a Super Bowl and throw in a milestone celebration like the National Football League's 100th anniversary and you have all the ingredients for an epic bash. With plenty of sun, surf and sand there is never a need for an excuse to party in Miami but the Super Bowl, back in its favorite city for a record 11th time, has generated an unprecedented buzz dialing up the heat on South Beach. Navratilova, McEnroe apologize for Margaret Court Arena protest

Tennis greats Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe have apologized for a breach of "protocol" at the Australian Open after being taken to task by tournament organizers for an on-court protest against Margaret Court. Navratilova and McEnroe called for Court's name to be stripped from the second showcourt at Melbourne Park on Tuesday and replaced by Australia's former world number one Evonne Goolagong. Top 25 roundup: No. 17 Auburn rallies, beats Ole Miss in two overtimes

Senior Anfernee McLemore tied a career high with 19 points, including a big 3-pointer before fouling out in the first overtime, and guard Samir Doughty scored all 17 of his points after halftime as No. 17 Auburn survived Mississippi's upset bid for an 83-82 victory in two overtimes Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss. The Tigers (18-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed the Rebels (10-10, 1-6) by double digits for much of the night. Auburn was down by 17 points at halftime, faced a 19-point deficit early in the second half and trailed by 10 in the last six minutes. Dinwiddie, Ross change numbers due to Kobe's death

Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie and Orlando Magic swingman Terrence Ross changed numbers on Tuesday to honor the late Kobe Bryant. Both players are changing their number from No. 8, one of the numbers Bryant wore with the Los Angeles Lakers. Dinwiddie switched to No. 26, while Ross chose No. 31. Tokyo 2020 unveils sustainable athletes village plaza

When the world's top athletes meet in Tokyo for the Olympics in July, they'll be spending some of their downtime in a communal space built mostly out of reusable timber. Organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Wednesday unveiled the athletes village plaza, which was made from 40,000 pieces of timber donated by 63 Japanese municipal governments. Zverev breaks Grand Slam semis barrier with win over Wawrinka

German seventh seed Alexander Zverev recovered from a slow start to beat former champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the Australian Open on Wednesday to reach his first career Grand Slam semi-final. Zverev was once considered one of the leading 'Next Gen' contenders to break the Grand Slam hegemony of Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer who have shared the last 12 majors between them. Super Bowl notebook: Spotlight on 49ers' Garoppolo

The San Francisco 49ers have ridden the running game to Super Bowl LIV, with Jimmy Garoppolo throwing just 27 passes in two games, but head coach Kyle Shanahan scoffs at the idea he's trying to hide his quarterback. "I think it's really funny that people say that," Shanahan told reporters Tuesday. "Did anyone notice how good we were running the ball? We weren't just running it to punt and try to win 3-0. ...