Tennis: Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova found herself in a tight spot in more ways than one at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday but managed to escape with a come-from-behind victory after a timely wardrobe change. Overwhelmed in the opening set on a chilly day at Indian Wells, Kuznetsova immediately felt more comfortable when she discarded her leggings and went on to upset 18th-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic 0-6 6-2 7-5 in the second round. “For me it’s difficult to play in cold weather because even when I tried to play in the long tight pants in the first set, I cannot,” Kuznetsova said. “I don’t think I started to win because of my pants, but still, I was not moving. I just had to change things.”
Golf: Looking fully in charge of his game, Tiger Woods fired an outstanding seven-under-par 65 to open up a two-shot lead over Graeme McDowell after the second round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Friday. Woods had 17 birdies from his opening 36 holes for the first time in a PGA Tour event, helped by some outstanding work on the greens on the Blue Monster course at Doral. “It felt like I finally got into a feeling where I needed to have it,” said the world number two of his round.
Alpine Skiing: American Ted Ligety (picture) won the Kranjska Gora giant slalom for a fifth time yesterday to secure the World Cup in the discipline. It was the triple world champion’s fifth giant slalom crystal globe and the victory on the Podkoren slope, one of his favourites on the circuit, was his fifth of the season. With a combined time of two minutes and 35.43 seconds, Ligety was 0.45 ahead of Austrian Marcel Hirscher while up-and-coming Frenchman Alexis Pinturault was third, 0.77 off the pace.
Rugby Union: David Pocock faces an anxious wait for medical results on his injured left knee after the flanker hobbled off the field after only 14 minutes of the ACT Brumbies’ Super Rugby match against the New South Wales Waratahs yesterday. FOX Sports reported that Pocock had suffered a suspected anterior cruciate ligament injury. Australia coach Robbie Deans was watching on from the stands and will be hopeful that the 24-year-old Pocock has not suffered such a significant injury with three tests against the British and Irish Lions in June and July.
Cricket: Alastair Cook and Nick Compton made some amends for England’s poor first innings by grinding out a 231-run partnership to eat deep into New Zealand’s lead of 293 on the fourth day of the first test yesterday. Captain Cook was dismissed just before stumps for 116, leaving Compton to resume on the fifth and final day of the match on 102 not out along with nightwatchman Steven Finn, who had yet to score. England ended the day on 234 for one, a deficit of just 59 runs, after applying themselves far more diligently than in their first innings, when they were bundled out for 167.
Cycling: Chris Froome rode to an impressive victory on the mountain finish of Prati di Tivo to win stage four of the Tirreno-Adriatico yesterday. The Team Sky rider closed the gap on new general classification leader Michal Kwiatkowski (Quick-Step) to four seconds as he attacked decisively in the final kilometre of the 173km course. The Briton came home six seconds ahead of Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini-Selle Italia), with Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Pro Team) third. Poland’s Kwiatkowski finished fourth to take the race leader’s Banca Mediolanum Blue Jersey.
Basketball, NBA: The Miami Heat made it 17 straight wins and clinched a play-off spot with a 102-93 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers as LeBron James starred again. James scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Dwyane Wade added 22 points. Chris Bosh scored 16 points, Ray Allen added 12 and Shane Battier scored 11 for the Heat, who equalled the 12th-longest winning streak in NBA history and became the first team in the league to reach the play-offs. Thaddeus Young scored 25 points for the 76ers who lost their 12th straight on the road and 13th straight regular-season game against Miami.