Carlos Alcaraz beat Dan Evans to set up a Barcelona Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Meanwhile in Bosnia and Herzegovina , the in-form Andrey Rublev has reached the Banja Luka final.
In football news, Manchester City reached their first FA Cup final since 2019 after a win over Sheffield United. Meanwhile, Liverpool kept up their hopes of playing European football next year after a hard-fought win over Nottingham Forest.
Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 23 April, 2023:
Alcaraz through to Barcelona final
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz swept past Dan Evans 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to set up a Barcelona Open final clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek second seed earlier defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the final for the third time.
World number two Alcaraz beat Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals at Barcelona last year in three sets in what was the Spaniard’s third win in three meetings against the Greek.
“I feel really comfortable playing here in Barcelona and (I’m) playing well,” said Alcaraz, who has not dropped a set in the tournament this year.
“Stefanos is playing great matches as well. Last year we had a spicy match, let’s say.
“I know he’s a really nice guy off the court, so I’m going to try to forget everything that has happened in the matches before, try to focus on my game tomorrow, and try to get the win.”
Alcaraz missed the Monte Carlo Masters last week because of hand and back problems and has not been at his most consistent on his way to the final.
An easy win over Nuno Borges was followed by trickier triumphs against Spanish compatriots Roberto Bautista Agut and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Chasing down his third title of the season after triumphs at Buenos Aires and Indian Wells, home favourite Alcaraz started impressively.
Liverpool pip Nottingham Forest
Liverpool kept their outside shot at Champions League football next season alive as Diogo Jota scored twice in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, while Aston Villa’s European charge stalled in a 1-1 draw at Brentford on Saturday.
At the other end of the Premier League table, Leicester came from behind to secure a first win in 11 games by beating Wolves 2-1 to move out of the relegation zone.
Liverpool thrashed Leeds 6-1 on Monday to rekindle their hopes of a late challenge for a top-four finish but made heavy work of overcoming a Forest side that had scored just five away goals all season prior to their visit to Anfield.
“The most important thing in football is obviously our results and fighting through this situation today and getting three points,” said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
“You just have to look in the dressing room, the boys are not silly – they know that we were not perfect – but they are really happy about that. It’s three super-important points.”
Jota had not scored for a year prior to netting twice at Elland Road earlier in the week, but now has four goals in a week.
All of Liverpool’s goals came from set-pieces as they exposed some shocking Forest defending.
Jota twice put the Reds in front early in the second half, but Forest hit back through deflected efforts from Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White.
However, the visitors twice conceded within three minutes of getting level as Mohamed Salah swept home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick for the winner 20 minutes from time.
Liverpool move up to seventh and within six points of fourth-placed Newcastle, who host Tottenham on Sunday.
Forest slip to second bottom, one point adrift of safety.
Manchester City in FA Cup final
Riyad Mahrez fired Manchester City into the FA Cup final as the Algerian’s hat-trick sealed a 3-0 win against Sheffield United at Wembley on Saturday.
Mahrez’s superb display dispatched the Championship underdogs, ensuring City ended their run of three successive FA Cup semi-final defeats.
The 32-year-old shattered United’s resistence with a penalty late in the first half and completed his treble with two clinical finishes after the interval.
City’s opponents in the Wembley final on June 3 will be the winners of Sunday’s semi-final between Manchester United and Brighton.
Pep Guardiola’s side are back in the final for the first time since 2019, when they won the FA Cup for the only time in the Spaniard’s reign.
They are the first team to reach the final without conceding a single goal since Everton in 1966.
“It is the fourth season in a row we are in the semi-finals. We could not win in the past but today we performed,” Guardiola said.
“We cannot forget we were in Munich three days ago. It could be hard. We had to perform well and we did it. All the guys who came in were perfect.
“I’m really happy for the club to be back in the final after many years.”
On Mahrez’s match-winning contribution, Guardiola added: “Riyad is grumpy with me all the time when he doesn’t play. He makes me notice.
“When he plays, he is there, that is most important. He is a big-stage player. I’m so satisfied for Riyad.”
City have won 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions and remain on course to win a memorable treble as they chase Arsenal in the Premier League and face a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
Rublev reaches Banja Luka final
Andrey Rublev made his second final in as many weeks with a straight-sets win over Slovakia’s Alex Molcan in Banja Luka on Saturday.
The second-seeded Rublev, who triumphed at the Monte Carlo Masters last week, extended his winning run to eight matches with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Molcan.
“In the beginning I played really well, and then second set I lost a bit of focus,” said Rublev.
“Alex played a few good games and I started to get tight, I started to get nervous. But in the end I was able to win and that’s the most important thing.”
Rublev has reached the final without dropping a set and will play Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Dusan Lajovic, for the title on Sunday.
The 70th-ranked Lajovic battled back from the brink of defeat to edge past fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in three sets.
Kecmanovic led by a set and served for the match in the second, but Lajovic refused to buckle and won 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 after three hours.
With text inputs from AFP
Updated through the day
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