Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain again showed his killer instinct with two expertly-taken goals in a late 3-1 win at Torino after their less illustrious neighbours had scored first and dominated the Serie A game on Sunday.
Alcaraz topped the Red Group and will face Green Group runner-up Novak Djokovic in a mouth-watering semi-final.
But Ruud, a semi-finalist last year, stamped his authority in the tiebreak and did not face a single break point in the match as he beat the Canadian for the second time this year.
Twenty four time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic closed the 2023 ATP season by clinching the year-end No. 1 spot for a record-extending eighth time.
The Serbian's 19th successive win ended any chance of Spain's Carlos Alcaraz overtaking him in the rankings this week.
The 35-year-old Serb was sent home from Australia on the eve of last year's event after a row about his COVID-19 vaccination status.
Novak Djokovic steered Serbia into the Davis Cup semi-finals with a straightforward 6-4 6-4 win over Britain's Cameron Norrie to give his team a winning 2-0 lead on Thursday.
Neymar joined the group later than the rest of the players due to a flight issue from France,
For Napoli, the match highlighted their struggling form, marking three consecutive defeats across all competitions for the first time since October 2016. They are fifth with 24 points.
Russian Andrey Rublev has become the fifth singles player to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin next month, the men's tour said.
Indian men scored a 2.5-1.5 victory over Bulgaria but the women suffered defeat at the hands of Armenia at the Chess Olympiad
Poland's Hurkacz was a force to reckon with on serve -- firing 24 aces in the match -- but he ran out of steam in the final set
Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has retired from football, the 45-year-old announced on Wednesday, after 28 years in which he reached exceptional milestones for club and country.
The ATP said that penalties and fines would apply for abuse or misuse of the coaching conditions and that the trial will be assessed at the end of the 2022 season for potential inclusion in future.
Djokovic did not do much wrong as he battled Sinner and the crowd - regularly jesting with the fans who jeered him throughout the duel.
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Real Madrid's Rodrygo struck twice and Jude Bellingham was also on target as the visitors enjoyed a 3-0 win at lowly Cadiz.
'My arm has been -- I have had an issue there for quite a while now. It has gotten bigger in the last couple of weeks, so I'm just trying to protect it.'
Casper Ruud has become the first Norwegian to book a place in the season-ending ATP Finals, leaving one spot to be filled at the tournament in Turin, Italy later this month.
Sevilla will bid for a record-extending seventh Europa League title when they face AS Roma in the final in Budapest on May 31, after Jose Mourinho's side drew 0-0 at Bayer Leverkusen to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory in their semi-final.
With world number four Ruud already assured of a semi-final berth the match was in reality a dead rubber.
World number one Carlos Alcaraz retired injured against Holger Rune at the Paris Masters on Friday, sending his fellow 19-year-old through to the semi-finals, while Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime also sealed places in the last four.
A summary of Saturday's action in the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship qualifiers.
Favourites Russia Tennis Federation opened their Davis Cup Finals campaign with a resounding victory over Ecuador, Britain began with a win against France and Italy eased into the quarter-finals with a win over Colombia on Saturday.
The squad and Tite will gather on Nov. 14 at Juventus' training facilities in Turin, where Brazil will hold a five-day training camp before flying to Doha on Nov. 19.
Ronaldo flew back to his native Madeira after Juventus beat Inter Milan 2-0 behind closed doors on March 8, their final game before Serie A was suspended because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
"I have already made my decision but will not disclose until game time," Tite said.
World number six Matteo Berrettini has withdrawn from next week's ATP 1000 Paris Masters event due to stiffness in the neck, the Italian said on Saturday.
"We, those who play in the back end, often joke that we feel sorry for our rivals because we can replace Raphinha for Antony, Richalison for Gabriel Jesus. We have Rodrygo, Gabriel Martinelli."
Bayern Munich have signed Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus on a deal until 2027, the German Bundesliga champions said on Tuesday.
Nine-times champion Novak Djokovic says there are "positive signs" that his three-year ban on entering Australia will be waived so he can play at the next Australian Open in January.
'The fact that I wasn't playing for several months beginning of last year allowed me to really get together with my team and work on my body, on my strokes, which has later helped me to achieve some great results.'
Gianluca Vialli, who earned 59 caps for Italy and enjoyed a stellar club career with Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea, has died from cancer at the age of 58.
Alexander Zverev booked his place in the last four of the ATP Finals where he will face world number one Novak Djokovic after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Hubert Hurkacz in Turin on Thursday.
Sweden and Novak Djokovic's Serbia took the two best runners-up spots and a place in the last eight by virtue of their better match win-loss records among the second placed sides throughout the group stages.
The Serbian Wimbledon champion extended his win streak to nine, wrapping up the final in 75 minutes without facing a break point and booked his place at next month's ATP Finals.
French midfielder Paul Pogba conceded the volume of different coaches he played under at Manchester United hindered his chances of success in England, while he also insisted he is pleased to be "home" at Juventus.
Greece's Tsitsipas battled back from 3-5 down in the third set to eliminate Medvedev with a 6-3, 6-7(11), 7-6(1) win to set up a showdown on Friday with Rublev for the Red Group's other semi-final spot.
Novak Djokovic's outstanding serving, mighty forehand and all-court defence delivered him a ninth straight win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in their Red Group match.
A first-half strike from Pedri gave Barcelona a 1-0 win over Villareal to extend their lead over Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga to 11 points
